Mutations and Magic
by Ela
Summary: Your usual 'new student comes to Bayville' story... with a twist. (I give a lot of credit to Angel, just because she deserves it. And Mecha.)
1. Default Chapter

Disclaimer (a really long one): Boy, do I wish Kurt was mine... *squeezes plush Kurt doll with glee* Alas, it is not so. *Kurt doll pops* I don't own X-Men: Evolution, SOMEBODY does, out there... Hi! *waves* I don't own Xanth either- I know who that belongs to! Peirs Anthony! Do I get my cookie now? No? Damn. I DO own Miracle, Amarantha, and Princess Luna, and Katherine. Also, to appear later on in the story, I do own the girls' mother (if I said the name, it would give it all away... Shhh...), the girls' grandfather, David, Amethyst, Minuit, Tobias (sorta, give credit to K.A. Applegate), Toodles, and Colleen. As well as the Cave of Horrified Names. I also own the people not named, but will be soon- the princess, the knight, and the troupe director. Just in case you were wondering, merci! Now, don't take them from me please! As if you would want to. Kassandra Selenite belongs to Angel- Danke for letting me use Selene! I don't own The Enchanted Forest series- Patricia Wrede does, I think that's the name. The poem "Sweet and Low" was written by Alfred, Lord Tennyson, but the melody I put it to is mine- even though you guys can't hear it, which is a shame. I don't own Dites-moi from South Pacific. That belongs to Rodgers and Hammerstien. Go out and buy the soundtrack, it's good. I don't own Fairy Tale- so sorry you guys couldn't hear it- that belongs to Enya, the singer. From the self-titled CD. I DO NOT own Cupid's Arrow Forum- that belonds to Mistress Elena. Here's the website if you want! http://disc.server.com/Indices/10714.html  
(Mistress, if you're reading this, and totally pissed off at me, hey, I tried e-mailing you, and received no response. I took that as a yes. I couldn't wait forever.) I don't own Moonstone, and the poem Who Are My People? was written by Rosa Zagnoni Marinoni, even though I kinda... ruined... it. Yeah.  
  
PS: Not all of the things mentioned in this disclaimer appear in the first chapter.  
  
Author's Note: This is going to be a REALLY REALLY long story, I'm so sorry! But I guess it doesn't matter, if you guys think it's a good one. Keep in mind- quality over quantity! (PS: Hey, Angel, here's the portable fridge!)  
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Chpt 1- Genesis  
  
"Hey! Wait up!" Rogue shouted and waved as she ran up to Kitty, who turned around. (AN: SCAAAARY Southern accent! Damn Missourians! Ehh... heh heh... no offense... *ducks various flying projectiles* Sorry all you people out there that live in Missouri!)  
"Oh, hey Rogue," Kitty said nervously. The two ladies continued walking down the corridors of Bayville High School. It was the last day of school, and all the students were totally happy to be free for the summer. "I, like, totally swear, I don't know how your CD player got into my backpack..."  
Rogue gave her a wary eye. "Sure... anyway... Have you talked to the Professor lately?"  
Kitty shook her head no. "Well... not about, like, anything special."  
"Well, did ya hear? We're gettin' two new students! The Prof told me that they used to live in Florida. Imagine that? He says that they're used to travellin', so we have to make an extra effort to make them feel at home. Two girls, he said."  
"Really? It's about time we, like, got more girls. Anything else?" The two roommates at the Xavier Institute reached the main doors, and stepped outside in the bright sunshine.  
"Well, that's pretty much all the Prof told me, except that..." Rogue hesitated a bit and turned to her friend. "Are ya sure he didn't talk to you?"  
"Yeah, I'm sure... why?"  
"He told me that he would. It's pretty important... It effects us."  
"Like, what do you mean?"  
"We're gonna be split up."  
"What?"  
"The two students are sisters. The Prof feels that in order to meet more people, one of them should bunk with one of us... and the other bunk with one of us. I'm takin' the older one. She's fifteen. The other is fourteen... We're both moving out to join them. No one will have the room."  
Kitty stared with shock at her friend. Ever since she started attending the Institute, she had always shared the same small room with Rogue. It had become... well, a normality in her life. Now they were being split up and moved out just so newcomers could open up more? It wasn't fair!  
"Hey, Kitty! Rogue! Vant a ride home?" Off in the near distance, Kurt, with his thick German accent, waved to them, with Evan in the driver's seat of one of the Institute's jeeps. Jean had already taken off with Scott in his convertible.  
Kitty eyed Spyke wearily. "Umm... Is he, like, driving?" she asked, nearing the car.  
"Oh come on Kitty, you have no sense of adventure!" Rogue said, pulling her friend's hand in the direction of the automobile, with Evan smiling and Kurt shaking his head no.  
"I'd say she has no sense at all. And, as they say, birds of a feather stick together!"  
Rogue groaned. Avalanche appeared from behind a nearby tree.  
"Lance, like, go away! It's like, helLO! You're sooooo annoying and I totally don't like you!"  
"Aww, that's too bad, 'cause I sure as Hell love you baby!" he said to Kitty. She turned away in disgust.  
"Hey, vatch it, dude," Kurt warned. He took a step forward. Kitty and Rogue dumped their backpacks in the jeep and turned to face Avalanche, along with Evan, his spikes revealed a little. Rogue began to take off her gloves. Avalanche held up his hands and backed away.   
"Hey, I'll come back when the odds aren't against me," he said to Kitty. "But I promise, Kittycat, I'll come back for you. I promise." The fellow mutant jogged back to his friends, who had been waiting for him on the other side of the courtyard. Kitty wanted to gag.  
"Ugh, like, EEEW! Like, so totally icksome! If he, like, ever calls me that again, I will, like, so totally kill him!"  
"Ve'll be right behind you," Kurt reassured her. "Come on, let's get out of here." Something was weird about the way Kurt followed them into the car and drove off to the Institute, but Kitty just shrugged it off.  
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Kitty hesitantly raised her fist to knock on Professor X's door, but she never got the chance.  
*Please, come in, Kitty,* he said telepathically to her. Blushing, she opened the door. Professor X turned his wheelchair around to face her.  
"Please sit down." He gestured to a nearby chair. Kitty sat, glancing nervously around the office.  
"I know why you're here."  
Kitty nodded.   
"Please, Kitty. Learn to accept these changes for the better. Who knows, maybe you could meet a new friend out of all this. I assure you, I only have all of your interests in mind."  
"Umm.. when are the girls coming?"  
"They are coming on Sunday."  
Kitty reacted with rage. "Like, that means I totally don't even have the summer!"  
"Everything will turn out fine, Kitty. You will still see Rogue, and you have the extra time to become acquainted with your new roommate."  
"Umm, like, what is so special about these girls anyway?" So many thoughts swirled through Kitty's head. She knew she shouldn't be so rough on the Prof... especially since he had housed her, and trained her, and taken care of her.. of all of them...  
"These girls are extremely powerful. The older one can perform "miracles" as she calls them. I believe it mainly focuses only on small medical conflicts, but we can change that. The younger one, the one you'll be sharing a room with, can make anything last forever, or at least for a little longer, as long as she touches it. Say, if she touches your new cd, for example... no matter what you could possibly do to destroy it, it will not break. But eventually it wwill wear off; that could be easily changed as well, for the better. Though she need not take the same precautions as Rogue."  
Meaning that she could touch people. She didn't need to wear gloves and long sleeved shirts in the summer. Or at all. Rogue would hate her. Kitty sat back. "They would make great additions to the Team," she said in a half-there voice.  
"Yes, they would. Imagine it, Kitty."  
Kitty shifted uncomfortably and focused on the rogue... err, rug on the floor. (AN: Lol. The "Rogue" on the floor.... haha.)  
"Why don't you join your friends down at the pool? I'm sure they miss your company."  
Kitty nodded, bid farewell to her Professor, and walked out of the office, not a thought about the pool on her mind.  
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"Amarantha? Are you packed yet?" Princess Luna asked her adopted niece at the dinner table on Saturday night. She was flying up to New York with the two girls Sunday morning, making sure they got there alright and settled in okay, then returning to Florida Sunday night.   
Princess Luna sometimes wondered why she kept the title. She was no longer Princess; her father had married at last and produced a suitable heir, her half-brother Helios. But then again, the answer to her question always came back to her.   
"Yes, Aunt PL." Amarantha answered. Mara's straight brown hair fell down her back to her waist, and for once it was tied back with a kerchief. She glanced at her sister with her green eyes flecked with light brown, then resumed picking at her food.  
PL. Princess Luna's nickname, bestowed to her by her half sister, on their mother's side. That was why she retained the title Princess. If she didn't keep the 'P,' then she would be just 'L.' Wouldn't that be weird?   
"And you, Miracle? Are you packed?"  
"Yeah... I'm packed." The teenager's hair framed her face, held back only by a black headband. The short curls shone with a golden blonde hue. Miracle looked at her aunt with special eyes that changed color randomly. "Aunt PL? Tell me again why we're going there... To that 'Xavier Institute' place..."  
PL sighed. "Professor Xavier invited both you and Mara to attend the Xavier Institute. Because you have special powers. You and your sister. You are lucky that your sister is going too. Mara wouldn't have to be left behind," PL said with a hard expression on her face.  
"You have powers too, Aunt PL," Mara spoke up shyly.  
PL looked at Amarantha. "That's different, Mara. You know that."  
"I don't think so," Miracle said. She was stubborn in her ways, ruthless, yet kind in that gruff way. Mir was very unlike her sister, who was shy and sensitive, and aiming to please everyone at all times. The differences between the two were amazing, but the loving bond between them was even more.  
PL glanced sharply at Miracle. "How so, Mira?"  
"Aunt PL... it's Mir. PLain Mir," Miracle said, frustrated. Amarantha rolled her eyes. The girls couldn't stand it when their aunt called them Mira and Mara. It was so... juvenile. A hollow feeling twanged in their stomaches everytime the name was called in their direction. No, Mir sounded a lot more... suitable for her sister, while Amarantha still retained Mara. There was another name.... a nickname, that somebody had called her... but it was long forgotten, and she was sure no one had anything special for Mir, besides the obvious. So Mara stayed quiet. She could never cause her sister grief.  
"Miracle..." PL warned.  
"Isn't the reason why we're attending this Institute because we're mutants? We're different. We can do things regular people couldn't possibly dream of. Doesn't that apply to you too?"  
"No, Miracle... it does not."  
"Why not? You can do even more than one power. I've seen you, and so has Mara. It's amazing! Why, Aunt PL, you could even pass for-"  
"That's enough, Miracle!" PL said, her tone of voice unmistakable.  
Miracle lowered her head. "Yes, ma'am... I'm sorry."  
After a moment, "May I please be excused?" With that, Amarantha left the table.  
"Mara! You didn't finish your dinner!" PL called after her. Miracle glanced at her aunt with resentment, and then went to join her sister, leaving her food untouched. PL sighed and leaned back. She was all alone.  
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"I totally can't believe we're doing this," Kitty said to Rogue as hey were packing. It was early Sunday morning, right after breakfast. The sisters would be coming in that day. "Like, even though we, like, fight alot..."  
"Yeah... You're mah friend too." Rogue briefly glanced at her roommate and handed her a black blouse that lay on Kitty's bed. "Hey, wait a minute- isn't this mine?"  
"Uhhh... I dunno!" Kitty looked at Rogue innocently.  
"Alright, into MAH luggage you go!" Rogue shoved the blouse in her suitcase.  
"Is there, like, any chance I could, like, BORROW it, later on? Like, Tuesday night?"  
"What do you mean? Why?"  
Kitty sighed with aggravation. "Fine, I won't, like, go through THAT lecture again. I'll just ask Jean. She has, like, a short black blouse that I could wear."  
"Good luck," Rogue said. She stopped packing with a revelation, and looked at Kitty in a mysterious way. "Oh my gawd. We're actually doing this."  
Kitty bit her lip, glanced at Rogue and started bawling. She crushed Rogue in a death-hug. "I'm, like, totally gonna miss you as a roommate," Kitty whispered.  
"Yeah... same here..." Rogue whispered, fighting to keep the tears back, careful not to touch her friend to her exposed skin, if any at all. "Hey, get off!"  
"Sorry..." Kitty let go and wiped the tears away. Out of all the X-Men team, she was closest to Rogue. It was kinda hard not to be; the girls were close in age, and they had, after all, shared a room, despite all the arguments. Until now. It was as if the frienship... weird as it was... would be gone if the room was, too.  
"Now, you girls know, that would never be, right?"  
The two girls looked at the direction the voice was coming from. With all the sadness and melancholy set in the air, the two girls didn't notice Jean enter the room.  
"You two will always be friends. Strange ones, but friends nonetheless. Don't you ever forget that." Jean smiled. Kitty nodded and wiped the potential tears from her cheeks, while Rogue hiccuped.  
"You're totally right, Jean... we won't ever stop being friends." Kitty forced a smile. "Oh, by the way, could I borrow your black blou-"  
"Forget it." Jean warned. "Besides, black isn't your color."  
Kitty groaned. "But you haven't heard my reason yet!"  
"I don't need to, Kitty. They're all the same."  
Kitty pouted. Jean ignored her.  
"Anyway, are you guys ready? I'll show you your rooms... and they aren't that far from each other," she said.  
Kitty and Rogue looked at each other with revelation.  
"We... we didn't think of that!"  
Jean looked at the two girls. "What did you guys think? You two would be put on the farthest wings of the Institute?"  
Kitty looked at her friend, returning the grin that appeared. "I... I, like, didn't know what to think."  
"Listen, you guys aren't getting punished. Just a new room and roommate. The rooms are pratically next to each other."  
All at once Kitty's grin disappeared. "And... who, exactly, is in between?"  
Jean smirked. "Kurt Wagner."  
Rogue could swear, the cat-like wail that emitted from her friend's throat could be heard all the way to Florida.  
Good.  
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"Miracle, Amarantha, I welcome you to the Xavier Institute." Charles Xavier greeted Amarantha and Miracle warmly in the courtyard. "This is my assistant, Ororo," he gestured to Storm at his side, who smiled kindly.  
The two sisters were decked out as if they were at a funeral; their long black skirts and gloomy v-necked shirts exactly matched their mood. Their contrasting hair flowed freely with the wind. Their aunt, au contraire, was in a bright outfit that made her long sienna brown hair, with dark yellow streaks, seem as if it was mixed with gold. Her soft blue eyes sparkled, with her smile to match.  
"Here, girls, you will learn to control your powers... correctly. You will attend Bayville High in the fall. In the meantime, enjoy your summer. You will learn from your roommates the specific times and such."  
The sisters looked at each other with horror. "You mean... we're not bunking together?" Amarantha, having lived with their aunt in a tiny two bedroom house for so long, was used to sleeping with, and comforted by, the knowledge that her sister was sleeping right across the room. It was the same for Miracle.  
"We found it would hinder your chances to meet new friends, if you did," Storm said. "You won't be exiled from each other- you're right next door to each other, pratically, and the Professor made sure your roommates are extremely nice. If you let us show you around, there is a chance we'll run into them."  
Left with no other choice, Miracle and Amarantha followed Professor X and Storm into the huge, and what seemed to them, lonely, institute, their aunt close behind them.  
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"No! Vait! Come back here!" Kurt's unmistakable voice could be heard, as well as several cat hisses and warning cries. His bathroom door was open.  
"Kurt! Like, what are you doing with that poor cat!"  
Kitty, who had unpacked everything, was phasing through the walls to get to Rogue's room. Just to see her friend before the sisters came. But of course, she was delayed by the site of Kurt, trying give a cute, lost, poor, innocent kitten... a bath.  
Kurt looked up at Kitty. She could see several scratch marks on his arms and face, and he was covered with bubbles, which he then shook off.  
"Hehe... I vas just trying to clean her up. See, underneath all zis dirt, she has such a beautiful mixture of colors. She's a local stray, I zink a mix between calico and tabby; she has mostly black and vhite fur, but I've noticed some orange patches here and zere. I vas just cleaning her up so I could give her a good home."  
Kitty shook her head. "Cats hate baths, Kurt. She should be able to give herself a bath." She looked at the small kitten, who by now had jumped onto the floor and shaken all the mud off, and was contently sitting and licking her paw.  
"Aww, come here, cutie..." Kitty picked up the stray and cradled her in her arms. The kitten purred loudly. "You're so young, most likely not even older than 10 days. Your mother probably abandoned you, didn't she? Probably has too many kids herself... Aww, don't worry, we'll take good care of you!"  
The kitten pawed the air. Kitty laughed and looked into the adorable pair of baby blue eyes staring back up at her. "Ohhh... you like me, don't you? Oh, Kurt, you totally can't get rid of her!"  
Kurt, who had stood up and silently watched the two, laughed. "Oh... maybe I could spare to part vith her." Kitty stared at him with shock, her mouth open. Kurt shook his head and laughed. "No... I meant, I'm giving her to you. You deserve her."  
Kitty glanced from the kitten to Kurt, surprised. "You... you totally can't be serious." Kurt nodded. "Oh, you have, like, no idea how much this means to me!"  
"Hey, I figured, it is your namesake; it fits. I..." Kurt lowered his head, in order for Kitty not to notice the purplish blush that suddenly appeared. "I named her Katherine."  
"But, Kurt, my name is Katherine."  
"You mean, it's not Kitty?"  
Kitty glared. Kurt smiled and laughed. "I know. Zat's vhy... she sort of reminds me of you. Zat's another reason vhy you should take her. She's cute and fun to play with, and she carries herself vell. She knows exactly vhat she wants, vhen she vants it. And I'm sure vhen she gets to know you, she'll be zere always, just like a true friend. Just like you."  
"You totally can't be serious."  
"Oh, but I can. And I am."  
"I... I just can't, like, accept her from you!"  
Kurt laughed. "Trust me, you two vill get along just fine. Don't vorry about it."  
Kitty looked down at her counterpart and smiled. "Thank you."  
"Don't mention it. Its a gift... an end-of-school-year gift."  
"I..."  
Kurt smiled. Kitty looked up at him and softly kissed him on the cheek. She quickly turned away so he couldn't see her blush.  
"I'm gonna go visit Rogue now."  
With that, Kitty ran through the wall into Rogue's new room, tightly clutching Katherine, leaving Kurt with his scratches and dazed expression.  
"Wow." Only, with his accent, it sounded like "Vow." Cute, ain't it? ^_^  
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"Rogue! Look at what Kurt just totally gave me! ... Oh, Professor, I'm sorry..."  
The Prof smiled. "Quite alright, Kitty."  
"Oh, I totally forgot to ask... Can I keep her?"  
The Prof chuckled. "Of course, Kitty. No need to ask. We'll talk more about it later."  
Kitty then noticed Rogue's glum expression, and the three women behind the Professor. (Storm had left to get the girls' uniforms.)  
As if reading Kitty's thoughts... which he could... the Prof then made introductions.  
"Kitty, this is Miracle and Amarantha Meoskite, accompanied with their aunt, Miss... I'm sorry, I didn't catch your last name."  
PL smiled. "Please, if you ever refer to me, refer to me as PL. Everyone does. It's quite easier, in fact. Even the girls call me Aunt PL."  
Miracle rolled her eyes with grief, while Amarantha kept hers firmly planted on the ground. The Professor mentioned at Miracle.  
"Miracle will be staying with Rogue here, while Amarantha," he mentioned towards the pale girl, "will be staying with you, Kitty. Now, I'll leave you all alone to become better acquainted with each other, while I talk with... err, PL."  
The Professor wheeled out of the room, followed by PL, leaving the four girls to talk.  
The silence... was deafening.  
Finally, Amarantha broke the silence.   
"Hello," she said in a soft, quiet voice as she cautiously approached Kitty. "My name is-"  
"We know what your name is," Rogue said harshly. Amarantha looked as if she'd been slapped. It was then that chaos reigned, and everyone began screaming at once, with Kitty and her pleas with Rogue to calm down and be somewhat nice, and Miracle threatening Rogue that if she ever spoke that way again to her sister she would personally rip out her insides and spew them all over the floor. Words were exchanged, and it looked like Miracle was getting ready to do something drastic, and Rogue was reaching for her gloves, when Amarantha held out her hands and closed her eyes.  
Everything stopped. Everyone was frozen in place. Amarantha opened her eyes.  
"Look at you. All of you." She looked around. "We are going to be roommates. We can't afford to kill each other. Now, will you all please calm down enough so that I could let the second go on and release my powers?"  
Amarantha let go of the second. Miracle looked at her sister, an unreadable expression on her face. Kitty and Rogue sat with shock. They weren't used to Amarantha's powers.  
Amarantha continued. "Now, we're not here to hurt anybody. We're here because... Because Professor Xavier invited us. Because we want to learn. To learn anything, about us, about our people... anything more than what we could ever find out back ho.... I mean, back in Florida."  
Miracle opened her mouth to say something, but her sister glared at her.  
"No, Mir. This is home, now."  
"You... you shouldn't judge home only on where you reside." Rogue hesitantly said through her thick (and scary) Southern accent. "I... I've learned that, through the years..."  
Miracle looked at her harshly.  
"How would you know, little miss hick?"  
"What?!"  
"Miracle!"  
"Rogue!"  
Both girls pouted.   
"Hey, I haven't had the most wonderful life," Rogue said. "I've been in foster homes ever since I could remember. I have no clue who my parents are-"  
"Join the club," Miracle looked at her with a new understanding. Amarantha perked up as well.  
"-Or anythin' about mah background. And you know what's worse? I can't touch anybody. ANYBODY! If I do..."  
"We all totally have our little sob stories here. Even Evan." (AN: Damn, I hate saying that. Even Evan. Tongue twister gone evil.)  
"Evan?"  
"One of the other mutants. One of the few who have family."  
"Is your real name Rogue?" Miracle inquired. "If it is, welcome to the People With Their Names in the Dictionary Club. Amarantha and I are the only members so far..." she laughed.  
"No... it's Marie. But everyone calls me Rogue, even teachers."  
"My real name is Katherine. NOT Kitty." Kitty's eyes widen suddenly. "Oh, yeah! I, like, totally forgot! Rogue, look at what Kurt gave me!" She showed Katherine for all to see. "She's a stray he found, and wanted to give a good home. He named her Katherine," she blushed. Of course, Rogue started to tease her.  
"I think somebody's got a crush!"  
"Oh, Rogue, how can you, like, say that?"  
"Like this, see: I think somebody's got a crush!" Rogue said in a sing-song tone. Kitty blushed crimson. Soon the two were holding a conversation of their own.  
Meanwhile, Amarantha sighed.  
"Well, so much for introductions."  
Miracle placed a hand on her sister's shoulder. "Well... there's always lunch. Come on... let's explore a bit." She pulled her sister out the door. Their aunt and the Prof were nowhere to be seen. Amarantha demurred.  
"But, Mir, we really should get to know Rogue and Kitty better..."  
"Oh, come on, Mara, we could always do that at lunch." Mir's voice expressed her desire to explore the great estate.  
"I..." Mara looked at her sister's hopeful face and gave in. "I suppose so."  
"Great! Let's go this way!" Mir led the way, her sister's hand in her own.  
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It was a while before the girls noticed that their new roommates had left.  
"Oh, Rogue! They're, like, gone!" Kitty had glanced over and realized the door was open, the two sisters missing.  
"Weren't we supposed to be doin' somethin' with them?"  
Then the lunch bell rang out, reminding the girls that they were supposed to show the new students around, then bring them to the dining hall.  
"Oops..."  
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"I expect only the best for my nieces," PL said bluntly, as she and the Prof slowly wandered around the Institute.   
The Prof chuckled. "Why, of course, PL. Not just for them, but for everyone."  
PL nodded. "Professor..."  
"Please, call me Charles."  
"Err... Charles. If the girls should ever... receive a visitor, please, check with me first."  
"I'm... not sure I understand."  
"You don't need to. Please, just reassure me, promise me, if ever the girls should receive a visitor, make sure you have my approval for the girls to see her... them." PL wasn't sure if her older half sister wouldn't tell her before she spontaneously decided to check in on her daughters, but she had to make sure. For their sake. Especially Miracle's. If SHE ever got hold of Miracle... all hope would be lost. She'd be gone... And poor Amarantha would be broken... she didn't have the same type of resolve her mother did...  
The Prof felt it was none of his business to intrude. "Excuse me, PL? I said, I promise."   
"Oh, thank you, Charles."  
The lunch bell sounded then, and rang throughout the halls like church bells.  
"Would you care to join us for lunch?" the Prof asked.  
PL smiled, "Yes. I would like that very much."  
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"Wow! Look, Mara, a pool!" The girls gazed around in awe. This was nothing like Florida, they had to admit! The mansion was huge, more like a grand hotel, compared to the tiny house they shared with their aunt in Florida. They had gone from the top floor to the basement, and they had seen no one. The girls looked at each other with that thought in mind.  
"Maybe Rogue and Kitty are the only students here," Mara said.  
"But didn't Kitty mention somebody? ...Kirk, or someone like that? Maybe it was Kane... and that Kevin dude..."  
Then the girls heard the lunch bell echoing throughout the halls.  
"Wow, lunch already? I'm starved!"  
"Uhh.... one problem. Where exactly IS the dining hall?"  
Miracle looked down the long hallway and sighed. "Uh oh..."  
"It vould be a lot easier if you could teleport yourselves!"  
The girls turned around to find a... (AN: BLUE GERMAN FUZZY ELF DUDE!) weird looking... oh hell a blue German fuzzy elf dude. With a German accent. And a tail. And weird hands.  
"Who are YOU?" Mara asked.  
"I'm Kurt Vaugner. Who are you?"  
"My name is Amarantha Owen Meoskite... and this is my sister, Miracle."  
"Pleased to meet you... Oh ja, Prof said zere vould be new students... Vant a ride?"  
"No, we-"  
"Sure!"  
Kurt pressed the little button on his watch and his human form appeared. The two siblings glanced at each other.  
"Mara, we don't need help-"  
"Mir, we couldn't possibly find-"  
Kurt looked from one girl to the other and shrugged. "Okay, hold on!" He grabbed Mara with one hand and Mir with another, much to their surprise. (They could still feel the fur, and his three fingers, so they correctly assumed that it was only a hologram.) Then he BAMFed himself to the dining hall, this time with two passengers. 


	2. Introductions and Friendships

Chpt 2- Introductions and Friendships  
  
"Ah! Kitty! We can't tell-"  
"Rogue, we, like, have to!"  
"Tell whom? And, about what?"  
The girls were on their way, Kitty with Rogue in tow (She had put Katherine in her room to eat), to the dining hall to talk to the Prof. They had just entered when he noticed them. Kitty pulled Rogue fully into the room and stood before their wheelchair-bound teacher.  
"Prof, we're totally sorry, we lost them, could you, like, please-"  
Kitty was then interrupted by Kurt suddenly appearing in his usual chair, but this time with Mara and Mir. They all yelped with surprise as the chair- along with them- toppled backwards. They hit the floor with a thud.  
PL looked at her nieces and smiled. The others pretty much just sat there, dumbfounded.  
"Ja, I'm okay, no need to vorry..." Kurt laughed. He stood with a bounce to his step, fixed the chair, and helped the sisters up.  
"Thank you, Kurt..." Mara said politely. She knew her sister would be say something right... about... now.  
"What was that?" Mir asked. "What just happened?"  
"I 'ported us to ze dining hall. Duh."  
"Well then, why couldn't you just get us over there?" she pointed.  
Kurt shrugged. "I didn't zink of zat."  
"Oh, you DIDN'T?"  
"Mir..." Mara put a hand on her sister's arm. "Come on, let's sit and eat. I don't know about you, but I'm famished!"  
Mir glanced at Kurt, who was grinning stupidly. "I... I suppose so."  
Mara laughed, for that was exactly what she had said before they left to explore.  
"Amarantha, Miracle, glad to see you've come to know Kurt. If you please, sit down and enjoy the meal."  
The girls followed the Prof's instructions. Mara sat next to Kurt, with her sister on the other side of her.   
"Now, Kitty, Rogue, what was it you were going to tell me?"  
Kitty and Rogue backed away, embarrassed. "Uhh... nevermind! It was, like... nothing important." The two girls took their places and began eating.  
"Mmmm! I love ze smell of tuna in ze afternoon!" Kurt clapped his hand, breathed deeply, and gazed in wonder at the wide variety of food in front of him.  
Everyone either groaned (Logan) or shook their head and smiled (Jean).  
"Ohh, I can't wait until dinner, when he says that again with whatever meal we're having." Logan complained.  
"Can somebody pass ze horse radish?" Kurt grinned. Logan gruffly handed him the bowl.  
"Eeew... like, tuna with 'horse radish?'"  
Kurt shrugged and took a huge bite of the colossal sandwich, plus pickles, mustard, sour cream, pepper, mushrooms, AND blue cheese dressing, with glee. Kitty looked like she was about to be sick.  
"Vhy do you Americans call it 'horse radish' anyvay? It doesn't come from a horse, and it's not a radish..." He looked at Kitty's glare, surprised. "Vell... it's not!"  
"Everyone, please welcome Amarantha and Miracle Meoskite," the Prof said, preventing Kitty from leaping from her seat to attack the blue fuzzy elf.  
"Please, call us Mara and Mir. It's so much easier," Mara said.  
"And, of course, their aunt, PL. She will be leaving this afternoon."PL nodded in acknowledgement.  
"So, girls, please do tell us. What can you do? Or, if you rather- show us!"  
"Umm.... okay..."  
Mara closed her eyes and held out her hands. She held the moment, leaving Kurt hanging, with his sandwich inches away from his mouth. After a while she let it go.  
"I can make anything last forever... as I like to say."  
"I'm not sure if you want me to demonstrate... it'd be kinda hard..." Mir shifted in her seat.  
"What do you mean?" Jean asked.  
"Well, I can perform miracles.... maybe that's why my mother named me that." Mir blushed. "But, does anyone have a small miracle for me to perform? That's, um... medically related, maybe?"  
"Make him shut up!" Logan jerked his thumb at Kurt, who was eating and singing contentedly to himself, "I don't need to walk around in circles, walk around in circles, walk around in circles, walk around in circles, walk around in circles, walk around in circles...." etc. "It's medical enough for me!" Logan said.  
Miracle looked at Kurt, who then coughed. He moved his mouth, but no sound came out. Logan's eyes opened wide and he ran around and hugged Mir.  
"You can sit by ME from now on, bub!"  
"Now, of course, that was nothing compared to what I can really do." Mir looked at Kurt, who coughed again, as Logan sat down again.   
"Hey!" Kurt smiled. "That's neat! Can you do it to Logan?"  
"Who?" Mara asked, confused, while Logan glared at Kurt, who laughed.  
"Oh, that's right, we haven't introduced ourselves! How impolite." Jean went around the table, introducing everyone. "I'm Jean Grey." Mir and Mara looked at each other and smiled.  
*Grey!* Mara thought. She was thinking of a friend of theirs, Grey Murphy.  
*Oh, how I wish I was home,* thought Mir.  
"Of course, I hope you know Kurt," Kurt waved, "Rogue" Rogue glanced up, an unreadable expression on her face, "and Kitty." Kitty smiled weakly. "And of course, the Professor and Ororo." The Prof smiled, as well as Storm. "The man next to Kurt is Logan." Logan waved impatiently and went back to his food. "This here is Scott," Scott nodded in acknowledgement, "and the young man next to him is Ororo's nephew, Evan." Evan... well, Evan was Evan. Not hard to imagine what he'd do.   
"What can you all do?" Mara politely inquired.  
There was an awkward silence. "Well..."  
"I can do zis!" Kurt BAMFed from his chair to the lighting fixture and reached for the croissants. Logan snatched them away and revealed his claws. He was in such a hurry that he sliced his hands, but they quickly healed.   
"How many times do we have to go through this? You sit, you ask, and you get, bub. One day that chandelier is gonna break!"  
"But I..."  
"I know, I know... you didn't want to interrupt the conversation. Here." Kurt BAMFed back to his seat with a grin on his face while Logan slammed down the basket in front of him, withdrawing his claws.  
"Ohhh.... I dread dinner already," Logan complained.  
Mir and Mara giggled. "Does this happen every time?"  
Logan rolled his eyes. "EVERY!"  
Storm coughed politely. "Well, that takes care of two of us..."  
"Oh yes, the others."  
"This is mine." Evan showed off his spikes.  
"You've seen mine, Mara, Mir." Kitty phazed her arm through the table momentarily.   
"I hope you never see mine, girls." Scott pointed at his sunglasses.  
"Me also, girls. I hope you never find out why they call me Storm," Ororo smiled.  
"Mine is almost like the Professor's," Jean explained. She levitated Kurt's fork out of his hand. She then returned it to him after he let out a yelp. "I, also, can sort of read people's thoughts, to a degree. And the Professor..."  
"Can read minds. And change what people are thinking, sometimes erasing memories altogether." The Prof finished Jean's thought.  
"But of course, my ability is nothing compared to what he can do." Jean smiled.  
"What about you, Rogue? You mentioned something before about not being able to..."  
"I withdraw the life energy from regular people, and powers from mutants. At the same time taking their memories. If I hold on long enough, I will take enough energy to kill them," Rogue said bluntly, her tone of voice hinting that she'd said all this before. "You've got it made, Amarantha. Everyone here does." And with a glare evident on her face, Rogue got up and left. Everyone looked at each other awkwardly.  
"So... that went well," Evan said sarcastically.   
"Umm, please, if you'll excuse me..." Amarantha pushed her plate away and followed Rogue. Mir looked at her sister, sighed, and did the same.  
After a while of deafening silence, "Well, that REALLY went well," Evan said. Ororo glared at him.   
"Wow." Kurt said, only, with his accent, it sounded like "Vow." Cute, ain't it? ^_^  
Kitty looked around the table, got up, and walked through the wall to join the sisters and her friend.  
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"Rogue, wait!" Mara rushed down the hall to where she could hear Rogue's quick footsteps echo against the giant walls.   
"Mara! What are you doing?" Mir quickly caught up to her sister.  
"I need to talk to Rogue. We need to settle this."  
"Mir! Mara! Wait up!" Kitty phazed through the wall nearby and ran up to the duo. "I agree with Mara. We totally need to get this settled before lights out."  
"Or at least dinner."  
Kitty smiled. "Come on, I know where she's going." She grabbed Mara's hand and then Mir's, and phazed through the walls.  
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Rogue couldn't believe it. The day was going terribly! She sat back in the top tower and looked out over the city of New York, the tears coursing down her cheeks. She longed to be out there, free... She didn't ask for this, her powers, her mutation... She hated it.   
"Rogue?" Kitty quietly asked as she appeared with the sisters nearby. Rogue turned away and wiped her tears.  
"Rogue... We, like, totally need to talk..." The three girls sat in a circle, with Rogue as the north point, sitting across from Kitty.  
"I don't know what ya'll are talkin' about..."  
"Yes.. you do, Rogue. We need to at least stop being hostile to each other." Mara glanced at her sister. "We're going to be living with each other, after all."  
"Don't remind me!"  
"You know what?!" Mir glared angrily. "I can't believe the Professor promised that he would pair me up with someone nice. Some promise."  
"You don't know what really happened so I would suggest you shut up!"  
"Rogue!" Kitty warned.  
"Miracle!" Mara pleaded.  
"Stop it, guys!" Kitty took a deep breath. "Miracle, we used to be, like, roommates, Rogue and I. We shared a pretty small room... really small, compared to what we have now." She paused to think. "Hey, like, why didn't we get one of those rooms in the first place? That's totally not fair!"  
"This whole thing isn't fair!"  
"Rogue, you've gotta try."  
Rogue sighed.   
"As you can see..." Kitty continued, "we, like, don't even have the room anymore. We need to totally readjust all over again. So we're, like, dealing with it our own way, I guess. We totally don't have any reason to hold anything against you both..." She looked at the floor. "We just have to, like, trust the Prof."  
"Who?"  
"The Professor."  
Miracle looked at Rogue. "This hasn't been easy on us either. We had to just leave everything behind, including the person who pratically raised us, and come to a place where we don't know anybody, and then we find out we can't bunk together... Rogue, we've always shared a room."  
"Just like me and Kitty."  
"Yeah... I guess so. My little sister means everything to me! You have no idea... what we've been through..."  
Amarantha looked at her sister sympatheticllay. "Mir... all that's behind us now. Home is where the heart is, Miracle. Where is your heart?"  
Miracle glanced at her sister, her life-long best friend, the person she loved with all her heart, along with Aunt PL. This was where her heart was, where it belonged. Miracle calmed down a bit.  
"You know, Amarantha. You know where."  
"Then you know as well for me." Amarantha looked at Rogue and Kitty. "Where are your hearts?"  
Kitty looked down. "I... I don't... My heart is in two..."  
Rogue looked at Kitty, "Mah heart is here, Kitty. So is yours. That little piece of heart out there with your parents is here as well. Hey, I see you typin' away all the time. Remember when Kurt kept everyone out of the dinin' hall so that you could finish the e-mail to your parents in peace?"  
Kitty smiled sadly. "I miss them so much."  
"We all miss our parents, Kitty. I miss Irene as well!"  
"Who?" Mir asked.  
"My adoptive mother."  
Amarantha looked at Rogue. "You were adopted?"  
"Pratically half of us were. Kurt was, and Scott... Why?"  
"I was too... I barely remember my adoptive mother. Miracle's mother. She sent us off to Aunt PL when we moved to Florida. I can barely remember how old we were... Maybe six, seven? We haven't seen her since. Mir reminds me of her, a bit."  
"She's still out there. I know it... somehow. She's out there..." Mir looked out the window into the New York landscape.  
"Mir..."  
"Do you guys, like, want to know anything else about any of us?"  
"Yeah. Why is the Prof doing this for us?"  
"Because he wants to, like, help. On the good side. There is another 'group' led by Magneto, and he, like, has his 'people,' I guess... Avalanche and Quicksilver, Toad and.... eeeeew." Kitty made a face. "Kurt's real mother, Mystique, is over there too. And there's Sabretooth... he totally has a grudge against Logan."  
"Do you guys... ever... fight? Them, I mean."  
Rogue took a deep breath. "Yeah. Ya'll start trainin' on Monday. We all train here.We all help each other out. To control our powers."  
"Like, Cyclops could never totally fry Quicksilver if, like, Jean didn't, like, telepathically hold him in place." Kitty said in a rush.  
"Who? What?"  
"Oh, Cyclops is Scott... he shoots laser beams out of his eyes. That's why he has those special sunglasses. Quicksilver's powers sepcialize in speed." Rogue explained.  
"Does everyone have special names?"  
Kitty laughed. "I'm Shadowcat. Kurt is Nightcrawler, Ms. Ororo is Storm, Mr. Logan is Wolverine, and Evan is Spyke. That's pretty much it. Jean is just... Jean, I guess."  
Mara giggled. "What are our names going to be?"  
"Oh.. we didn't think of that!"  
Miracle looked at her sister. "You could be... Everlast."  
"Everlast." Mara said, trying it out. "I like it!"  
"Isn't 'Everlast' some sports brand name? Like... boxing gloves?"  
"Oh, you hush." Mir glared at Rogue.   
Rogue smirked. "Now, what about you, Miracle?" Rogue asked.  
"Hmm... Why can't I just retain my name? Jean does it."  
"I guess you could, like, do that. It totally fits anyway." Kitty smiled.  
The smile was soon contageous. One by one, everyone smiled in return.  
"Are we, like, friends now? All of us?" Kitty asked.  
Amarantha nodded and reached for Mir's hand. She then grabbed Kitty's hand. And so the process continued until everyone's hands were held by the person next to them.  
"I, Amarantha Owen Meoskite, aka Everlast, pledge my friendship and loyalty to everyone in this institute."  
"I, Miracle Meoskite, pledge my friendship and loyalty to everyone in this institute."  
"I, Katherine Pryde, or Kitty Pryde, aka Shadowcat, pledge my friendship and loyalty to everyone in this institute." (AN: Kinda hard for her not to say "like" after each word.)  
"I, Marie Miller, aka Rogue, pledge mah friendship and loyalty to everyone in this institute." (AN: Hey, does anyone know Rogue's REAL last name?!!)  
The girls hugged, with Rogue being cautious, and Mara making sure she touched everyone.  
"Oh!" Mir's head snapped up. "I just realized! We never unpacked! In fact... I don't think our luggage ever left the car!"  
Everyone laughed. "Come on. We'll, like, help you unpack." Kitty held Mara and Mir's hands, while Rogue clasped her friend's shoulder.  
"Going... down?" Kitty said in a weird voice.  
Then, they dropped.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
"Does anyone know vhere ze girls are? Kitty left Katherine in her room, and..." Kurt asked the group collected in the common room with Katherine in his arms.  
"No... I still haven't seen them. They'll probably come down when they're ready." Scott said. "I'm sure Kitty wouldn't be seperated from Katherine for more than a second if it wasn't that important."  
Suddenly, they all heard screams, and Kitty, Rogue, Mir and Mara dropped from the ceiling. Their eyes were wide with fright, and they were shaking as they crashed to the ground, then eventually helped each other up. Rogue turned to Kitty.  
"Okay... I was wrong... You DO have a sense of adventure!"  
"Ohh... that was like, so TOTALLY scary! Why did I do that? Can somebody tell me? Like, oh my gawd, like, oh my gawd, like, oooooh my gawd, like, oh my gawd, like, oh my gawd..."  
"That was so COOL! Let's do it again! Oh, that was FUN! Hah HAAAAH!"   
"Mir, you should get along quite well with Rogue, from what I've seen, if you think that dropping from the top of the highest tower, falling VERY RAPIDLY... THROUGH several floor levels, and then coming to an abrupt halt was FUN!" Mara gasped.  
"You guys dropped from the tower? Kitty, I'm surprised you would do that!" Scott said. It was then that the foursome realized there were others in the room. They laughed nervously.  
"Well, neither did we, until just now."  
"Zat must be an awesome ride! To have everyzing fly past you like zat..."  
"YOU, Kurt, are, like, totally crazy!" Kitty said. Then she noticed Katherine in his arms. "Oh, Katherine!" She rushed over to Kurt and took her from his arms. "Oh, hello my baby, how's my precious little darling?" She continued to talk baby talk as she cradled her kitten lovingly. She carried her over to the couch and sat down, and of course Mir and Mara crowded around her to adore the adorable kitten, even Rogue (AN: Why does the estranged woman hate cats?!), before they unpacked Mir and Mara's things. Kurt smiled as he watched.  
"Hey Kurt! Does this mean I'm getting a Cyclops doll for Christmas?" Scott teased.   
Kurt looked at him and smiled. "Oh, ja! Sure! Vhatever you vant..." He then returned his gaze to Kitty.   
"Oh?" Scott inquired. He then noticed that he didn't have the youth's attention. He locked this information up in his mind and put it away for further reference later, then returned to the book he was reading. 


	3. Rememberances

Chpt 3- Rememberances  
  
*Lights out, girls, in 5 minutes.*  
"Oh, thanks Prof!" Miracle said.   
Ever since after lunch, the four girls have been inseperable, helping the sisters unpack. They were now in Rogue and Miracle's room, and have been since dinner, gossipping for hours, breaking only to say good-bye to the sister's aunt, whom they could always stay in touch through e-mail, like Kitty did with her parents. The group was now closer than they have ever imagined, especially the two pairs of roommates.  
"So, like, who exactly is the oldest in here? I mean, like, besides the Prof and Mr. Logan and Ororo and Scott and... well, the rest," Kitty inquired, absentmindedly stroking her cat's fur as she purred with content. She was kinda tired of being the baby of the group.  
"I am," Miracle said. "I just turned fifteen in May."  
Rogue shook her head. "Sorry, I'm the oldest. I turned fifteen a while ago."  
"I turned fifteen... AFTER Rogue," Kitty pouted.  
"I just turned fourteen," Amarantha said quietly. "I guess that means I'm the youngest out of everyone," Mara sighed. "Again... I'm always the last in line."  
Mir laughed. "At least you know where to go, even if you don't know where you're going."  
Mara rolled her eyes.   
"Our birthday is May 2nd," Miracle added.  
"You two share a birthday?" Rogue inquired.  
"My mother wasn't informed of when I was born, so when she adopted me, she said I could just share the birthday with my sister. I don't remember my real parents, I was real little when they died. I grew up with Mother, and Miracle, with Aunt PL right across the road and Auntie Selene next door, pratically.. Until..." Mara's face grew bleak, as well as Mir's. Mara looked down while Mir looked out the window. Kitty and Rogue exchanged looks.  
"Sorry to hear..." Kitty muttered.  
"Even more sorry to live out. I know there's more out there that they aren't telling us." Miracle said. "And I swear, I will find out. Even if I have to kill to get my way," she said threateningly. Mir looked at her sister, who had placed a concerned hand on her arm.  
"You... you can't mean that, Mir. You shouldn't. They'll probably tell us when we're ready to handle it..."  
"Well, why can't we know now? Why can't we know where my father is- who he is, if I even had one at all!" She stood dramatically. "Why can't we know why Mother left? Why can't we know why, if we ever broach these subjects, Aunt PL always demurrs? Why can Aunt PL do more powerful stuff than us? And what the world does PL stand for anyway?"  
"Miracle, calm down! I'm sure ya'll will know in due course."  
"Yeah, I mean, like, believe me, we know how it feels to have so many, like, unanswered questions eating away to your mind," Kitty said.  
"Anyway, right now, let's wonder why Kurt really gave Kitty Katherine to keep." Rogue grinned slyly at the blushing Kitty. Mir sat down and glanced at Kitty with interest.  
"You love him! You wanna have, like, 10,000 of his babies!" (AN: okay, I don't own THAT either. That's copywrite of the people from American Beauty.)  
"Do not!"  
"Oh, admit it. Come off, will ya?" What was originally a tease turned into a stroke of terror. Miracle's face went blanche, and her eyes went distant and cold. Amarantha watched in terror.  
"Mir..." she whispered. The others watched closely.  
"Miracle..."  
"Yoo hoo... you home, Mir?" Rogue asked, waving her hand in front of her new friend's face. Mara grabbed her hand and shoved it away.  
"You can't do that!" she whispered still. "She's remembering. I don't know what, but we'll find out when she wakes up. For now, we can't disturb her."  
"Wakes up?" Kitty wondered.  
The three girls looked at Mir with wonder and suspense. All of a sudden, Miracle starting breathing hard, and her hand reached out in front of her, searching for something.... her face remained cold and heartless. Mara grasped her sister's hand, and then the color came back to Mir's cheeks, and the sparkle back in her eyes. She slowly looked at Mara, and started to speak.  
"She used to say that phrase. 'Come off.' That's why..."  
"Mir, we say it all the time."  
"I know. Do you remember Mother's familiars? Tobias the hawk and Minuit the tabby cat? Back then we couldn't pronounce their names right so we called them Toby and Min. And the monkey! Toodles was always getting into trouble, especially when we went to 'Auntie Selene's' house. Remember, Mother's best friend? Yeah, she was an angel with wings, one of the few who wanted them. I remember she had long black hair..."  
*Girls, lights out was several minutes ago. Remember, tomorrow our new schedule begins. Training is from 8:30 to 11:30 and 1:00 to 4:00. Now, good night.*  
"Alright, Prof! Good night!" Kitty said. She went around and turned off all the lights, then went back to the group. There was a little moonlight streaming through the window, shining on the four girls, which provided enough light to finish the conversation.  
"Anyway, Mir, continue," Kitty said eagerly.  
"Well, one day, Aunt PL, Mother, and Selene had a fight. Selene didn't want Mother to give us to Aunt PL and move out of Xan- I mean, to Florida. Mother and Aunt PL obviously did. Selene kept saying that 'Colleen isn't around anymore, you killed her. Wait, you did better than that. You destroyed her. There is absolutely no chance of her coming back and bringing harm to you or your kids. I just don't want you making a mistake that could ruin your life as a mother and their lives as well.' And Mother came back with, 'Come off, Selene, this is for their safety only, I swear, I'm not running away.'"  
Mara and Mir looked ghostly in the moonlight. Kitty and Rogue looked at each other momentarily.  
"Well obviously she lost the argument." Rogue said.  
"Amarantha?"  
"Hmm?"  
"Do you recollect any 'Colleen' at all?"  
Mara shook her head. "No, I don't. I honestly don't."  
Kitty stood up. "I think we should resume this conversation in the morning. Should we, like, wake up a little earlier, just in case we're too busy?"  
The others nodded in agreement.  
"Alright then. See you guys at 6:30. Come on, Mara."  
Reluctantly the girls said their goodnights and Mara held onto Kitty, who, while holding Katherine, phazed through the walls and finally reached their room.  
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As Mara and Kitty were getting ready for bed, Mara noticed Kitty's stuffed animal, the cute little dragon she always sleeps with.  
"Oh, what a cute little dragon!" she cried. (AN: Hey, I'm repetitive, so what?)  
"Oh, this old thing? My parents, like, got it for me at a carnival when I was, like, younger." Kitty admired the dragon lovingly. "It still doesn't have a name."  
"Can I help with that?"  
"Yeah, sure!"  
"Hmmm.... How about Kazul?"  
Kitty gasped. "You read the Enchanted Forest series too?"  
"Are you kidding? It's my favorite!"  
"Mine too! I guess the name Kazul kinda fits, since she's my favorite character. I get kinda dissappointed that she doesn't appear often in the later books."  
"My favorite character is Morwen, the witch. She kinda reminds me of someone... but then again, it's kinda hard to pick a favorite in that series! I love them all!"  
Kitty laughed. "Alright then. Her name is Kazul." Kitty then got into bed and hugged Katherine close. "Ya know what? I think it's totally cool that you came here."  
"You don't regret anything?" Mara got underneath the covers.  
"No... I really don't."  
"Neither do I... Goodnight, Kitty."  
"G'night, Amarantha."  
"Goodnight Katherine! Goodnight Kazul!"  
Giggles erupted.  
"Goodnight, Kazul. Goodnight, Katherine! Oh, she's totally asleep already!'  
"Well then, I guess we'd better follow suit. See you in the morning."  
"See you in the morning."  
Soon after, the room was dead still, as Mara lay silent, there in the dark, and not a sound came from Kitty, or Katherine, except the heaving breathing that comes with sleep.  
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"Mara?"  
Amarantha sat up to the sound of her sister whispering her name. She rubbed her eyes, trying to become accustumed to the dim light.  
"Mara, I'm so glad you're awake!"  
"Shh... Miracle! Don't wake up Kitty!" She glanced over at her sleeping roommate, Katherine sleeping in between her owner and Kazul.  
"Don't worry... I won't."  
"Besides, I wasn't asleep anyway. What are you doing here?" They continued their newly started dialogue in hushed whispers.  
"What do you mean? I came here with you, on the plane, with Aunt PL..."  
"Mir, you know that's not what I meant!"  
Mir quietly laughed. "I know. I had to talk to you about something."  
"About your memory?"  
"No. Why you can't sleep."  
"I..." Mara blushed. "You know why, Mir."  
"You know how Aunt PL told us not to take the diskette with all the songs sung by Mother?"  
"Yes... oh, Miracle! You didn't!"  
"Shh..." Mir giggled. "Yes, I did. And I want you to have it tonight. Tomorrow I'll make a copy for myself."  
"But..."  
"No buts. Enjoy it tonight. I'll be fine. Don't worry." In the moonlight Mir smiled. "I've memorized the songs anyway."  
"Well, so have I-"  
"Mara, please let me go to sleep with the knowledge that you have a little piece of her for now!"  
Mara looked down. "But what about you?"  
"Oh, I've got something... I'll see you tomorrow. Sweet dreams, little one."  
"Sleep, pretty one."  
"You're pretty too."  
"But since I'm the little one, I can't be the pretty one."  
"Fine, but only according to the song."  
As Miracle opened the door and left, her sister could hear her singing the first lullaby on the disk...  
"Sweet and low, sweet and low,  
Wind of the western sea,  
Low, low, breathe and blow,  
Wind of the western sea!  
Over the rolling waters go,  
Come from the dying moon, and blow,  
Blow him again to me;  
While my little one, while my pretty one, sleeps.  
  
Sleep and rest, sleep and rest,  
Father will come to thee soon;  
Rest, rest, on mother's breast,  
Father will come to thee soon;  
Father will come to his babe in the nest,  
Silver sails all out of the west  
Under the silver moon:  
Sleep, my little one, sleep, my pretty one, sleep."  
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"GOOD morning New York! It's 6:00 am, and what a WONder-"  
Miracle slowly opened her eyes. "Oh, yes. WONderful morning... blah dee blah blah, like, blah... Wait, that's Kitty's line..." She groaned and looked on the floor to where the radio lie.   
"Shoot... I'll never get out of this bad habit..." She got out of bed and fixed the radio, checking it to make sure she hadn't broken it when she knocked it off the nightstand. She then looked over at Rogue to check to see if she was still breathing, she was sleeping so soundly.  
"Rogue... Rogue, wake up! Rogue!"  
Rogue swatted the air above her and muttered into her pillow. Mir laughed. "Rogue... come off!" Miracle braced herself, hoping that last night's comment would wake her friend. She succeeded.  
"Wah.. what? Oh, Mir..." Rogue sat up and looked around. "That's right. I'm in here now." She looked up at Mir and yawned. "Oh, it's too early."  
Miracle nodded her agreement. "Mara would most likely want to get dressed first..."  
"Kitty does that too."  
"...so I suggest we do so as well. Flip ya for the bathroom." Miracle grabbed a quarter off the night table, showed it to Rogue, and flipped it.  
"Tails!" Rogue cried out. She and Mir peered over the end result...   
... And, as Miracle laughed in the shower, Rogue pouted on her bed.  
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BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEPBEEPBEEPBEEPBEEPBEEP-  
SMACK!  
A hand phazed through the alarm clock, trying to turn it off. The alarm clock started to beep out of control on the fritz. Finally the hand solidified and successfully knocked it to the ground.  
Kitty opened her eyes as she realized the alarm clock was now on the floor, and that her hand was in midair. She groaned and sat up, rubbed the sleep from her eyes, and glanced around. She noted that Katherine was lying in front of the window, her tail flicking back and forth, silently watching the world outside.  
"Huh? Oh, yeah. I'm here," she said sleepily. She looked over the alarm clock and groaned. "Oh, man, I totally busted it. Now I'm, like, gonna have to buy a new one..." Kitty looked over at the sleeping figure in the next bed. "Mara... time to get up." She got up and shook her new roommate. "Mara..."  
Mara groaned and pulled the covers over her head. "Oh, Aunt PL, five more minutes, please!"  
Kitty laughed. "Sorry, Amarantha, this isn't Florida."  
Mara sat up and smiled at Kitty. "Kitty? Oh, I'm sorry." She removed the small modern headphones from her ears and wrapped them around a small diskette player.   
"Should we get dressed now, or later?"  
"Well, we should now, in case we don't have any time later..."  
Kitty nodded in approval and mentioned towards the bathroom. "Do you wanna get ready first?"  
"You should... I will tomorrow."  
Kitty shrugged and grabbed her bra and panties, then went into the bathroom.   
"Oh!" She poked her head out. "Like, make sure Katherine has enough food for me... please!"  
'Oh, sure!" Amarantha smiled at her new friend as Kitty nodded and ducked back inside. Soon Mara could make out the sound of the shower running as Katherine purred around her, trying to get to her food dish (which Kitty had conveniently "borrowed" from the kitchen).  
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"Rogue?"  
"Mir?"  
Kitty and Mara (and Katherine!) phazed through the wall sometime later, and even then, after having paused to shake their heads at how Kurt slept, with his arms twisted in some weird arrangement, and his tail hanging off the bed and the pillows all over (Kawaii desu! ^_^) .  
"Mara? Rogue's in the shower." Mir looked at her sister from her bed and smiled. Both of them had soaking wet hair, Mara a little more than Miracle. Kitty of course had dried hers and put her brown hair up in the usual ponytail.   
The sisters were wearing their uniforms for the first time. Mara's was black mixed with a deep lavender, and the belt was gold, with the X-Men symbol on it. Mir's was black and gold, and the belt was an ivory white with the X-Men symbol on it as well.  
At that moment Rogue walked out of the bathroom, decked out in wet hair, her bra, panties, and a towel.  
"Oh, hey guys," she said. If she was embarrased, she didn't show it. While the others continued the conversation, she changed into her outfit.  
"Mir? Do you remember anything else?" Mara asked.  
Miracle shook her head. "Although... I did dream."  
Mara looked at her sister sympathetically. "Was it about your rememberance?"  
"Sort of..." she paused. "It was as if she never left." Mir smiled at the nice thought. "It was so cool... That's what I was talking about, when I said that I had somehting else to remember her by, besides the songs..."  
"Oh!" Mara cried. "I remembered the disk..." She brought out the mini diskette and handed it to her sister. "I'm so sorry you couldn't listen to it last night..."  
"It was your turn to put in your player anyway," Mir shrugged as she took it and put it in a diskette burner. "I already bought a blank diskette, so this should take a second..." She pressed a button, and everyone could hear a whirring sound.   
"What exactly is that?" Rogue asked. Finally dressed, she peeked over Mir's shoulder. Mir turned around and looked her in the eye.  
"You'll see tonight." She heard her sister gasp.  
"Miracle! You can't-"  
"Why not? We can't hog her all to ourselves."  
Mara looked down. "I suppose you're right."  
Miracle looked at Rogue. "This is the only piece of our mother we have left. Unfortunately, we can't play it now- everyone would fall asleep. But now we can actually play them out loud in the room at night again... that is, if you guys choose to." She looked at Mara and Kitty. Kitty looked at Mara, who nodded sadly.  
"Oh, Mara, I'm not forcing you to-"  
"But you're right, Mir. We can't keep her beautiful voice locked up forever."  
Mir smiled. "Her voice really is magical."  
"What exactly is on the disk?" Kitty asked.  
"Lullabies. Aunt PL has played them for us ever since Mother left... and Mother has been singing them to me since I went to live there. Before we left, she recorded them on a disk for us."  
"And I'm sure she's been singing to me since I was born."  
"It was something to remember her by..."  
"I wish all parents were like that," Kitty said forlornly. "If, ever they should, like, go away."  
All four girls thought about that statement, in their own way.  
"Hey, what time is it?" Kitty broke the silence. Everyone looked at the clock.  
"7:30?!" Rogue exclaimed. "Oh, if we don't start gettin' to the dinin' hall, there won't be any food left!"  
"Like, what are we waiting for, then? Let's go!"  
"WAIT!" Everyone looked at Amarantha. "Can we... umm..." she flustered. "..check to make sure Kurt can take some of us? Nothing against you, Kitty," she hurried to reassure, "it's just that..." She looked warily at the wall.   
Kitty laughed. "I understand. I guess after something like yesterday, I wouldn't, like, want to go around phazing through walls to any long distances, like, any time soon either. Especially if it was, like, my first time."  
"Ya know, we're getting spoiled. Shouldn't we just use stairs like normal people?"  
... The silence... was deafening.  
"Oh, honestly, Mir," Rogue said, "Since when are we 'normal?'"  
"True..."  
"Alright then. Let's go!" Kitty grabbed her friends' hands, Katherine content on her shoulder, and phazed through the wall to Kurt's room.  
"Oh, Kurt! Somebody's got a crush!"  
"ROGUE! I, like, totally do not!"  
"Yes, you do!"  
"No, I, like, don't!"  
"Yes, you do!"  
"No, I totally DON'T!"  
As the two bickered back and forth, Mir and Mara glanced helplessly at Kurt, who was watching with wonder.  
"Are they always like this?" Mir asked, jabbing a thumb in the beautifully matched pair's direction.  
Kurt nodded nervously.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
*Kawaii desu*Cute! (Japanese... desu really doesn't mean anything. I just know kawaii means cute! ^_^) 


	4. More Rememberances, Earned Trust, and A ...

Chpt 4- More Rememberances, Earned Trust, and A Visitor  
  
Seven months later  
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"Look Mir! Snow!" Mara exclaimed from the common room's full length window. It was just the beginning of the Christmas season, and the sisters, who had spent their lives in warm climates, were seeing snow for the first time. Their aunt had sent them full-length cloaks, as well as warmer clothes, so they needn't have bought anything in New York.   
Mir grinned as she looked out behind her sister at the fresh blanket of fallen snowflakes that had suddenly appeared during the night. "Oh, wow..." She suddenly looked at her sister and grinned. "Last one's out has a date with The Blob!"  
"Eeew! 'Like, so totally icksome!'"  
Mir rushed out of the door, giggling as Mara ran after her. It was Saturday morning, and the girls were finally calling the Institute "home." The girls had gotten into the groove of things, and since they had started school in August (they even had some of the same classes with their friends), there had been many battles between the X-men, with them included, and the Brotherhood. Their addition to the team had pulled them through tight spots many times.  
Since training with Professor X, the girls had developed their powers dramatically. Mara was just finding her specialty, even though Logan lovingly teased her, sometimes calling her the "Portable Fridge." It really surprised everyone, since it's kinda weird. It started with Professor's trial cube, which was purple... It turned out that anything purple works a lot better with Amarantha than anyhting else another color. Also, she could make the effect last a lot longer than she ever could before, regardless of color. The Prof said it must be involved with the pigments and the rainbow spectrum connected with her enzymes and DNA and the X- Mutation gene... and that's about where Mara drifted off, much to her dismay. She just wasn't a science/math based person.  
Miracle was now above causing Kurt's vocal pipes to fail and such. She was very interested in medicine, so the Prof had started taking her to the local hospital and let her practice on the terminal patients. Like, healing hemophiliacs and blindness in the blink of an eye. Sometimes her powers succeeded, sometimes they didn't- the Prof was determing what the cause may be of that.  
Their new cloaks, black with color and complete with a hood, made them think of Rogue's cloak, only Mara's had a shining dark, deep violet lining, while Mir's had a glittering gold. And they both had their signs in the upper right hand corner- Mir's had a sideways "s" with a vertical and diagonal line going through the center. The vertical line had arrows pointing out on both ends, and there were two dots opposite each other and the diagonal line. Mara's sign was a diamond outlined with gold- the top half sparkled with a silver glitter, and the bottom reflected the light in a purplish hue. Signs instead of signatures were common in their family, more like a tradition, and the girls didn't mind.   
The new articles of clothing billowed behind the sisters as they ran outside, snow crunching underneath their new boots. The girls laughed as they tore past Kitty with Katherine and Rogue, Jean and Scott, Evan, Ororo, Kurt (who was lying in the crest fallen snow, making a snowangel, Kurt style), ... their faces a blur against the trees lined with snow, and the grey skies beyond.  
"Hey Mara! Catch!" Mara dodged a snowball flying past her head. She stared at her sister with mock surprise, then scooped up some snow herself.  
"Let the games begin!" she cried as the snowball fight ensued, which consisted of snow throwing and dodging behind trees and narrow escapes and misses and sometimes not so great escapes and misses.  
"Hey Mara! Need help?"  
"Miracle! Thought we'd join ya."  
The two sisters could see their roommates off to the side, along with the whole Team. The girls grinned and nodded. Kitty smiled and lowered Katherine to the ground, who contented herself with batting handfuls of snow. The feline would not go far.  
In the end, it was Mara, Kitty, Jean, Ororo, and Logan versus Mir, Rogue, Kurt, Scott, and Evan.  
"This means war!" Scott shouted as he lowered his sunglasses at an oncoming snowball, thrown by Jean, who laughed as the snowball melted in midair. It had met the fate of Scott's laser eyes. It would be hard to get past him-  
"Ow!" Scott turned around and ruffled his hair, dumping the snow off.  
-Unless you could hit him from behind. Jean laughed and threw another snowball. This time it dodged Scott's attacks, and went around and hit him in the back of the head. And so this process repeated endlessly, them two going off in their own little world...  
"Got ya!" Kurt said as he suddenly appeared over Kitty's head, dumped an armful of snow, then BAMFed away before he could land on top of her.  
"Ahhh! Kurt!" she cried. "Totally not fair!" She laughed, shook off the snow and chased after him as he appeared nearby.  
"Hehe..." Logan laughed quietly as he hit Rogue square in the back of the head. She whirled around and grinned.   
"Come back here!" She ran after him with an armful of snow. He blocked any versatile attacks by shredding the snow with his blades.   
Ororo was collecting any snowballs thrown in her direction by creating a small, and not very powerful, whirlwind around her, drawing in the snowballs and catching them, and throwing them back out in return.   
"Hey Ama!" Evan shouted as he threw a snowball in Amarantha's direction. Mara calmly ducked, then turned on him in a calm fit of rage, as Mir joined her at her side, angry as well.  
"What did you call me?" she asked in a strange tone.   
Evan paled. "Uh... uh, Ama! That's your name, isn't it? Come on, I've known you since you came here, what's-"  
The sisters cornered him against a tree. The others stopped and crowded around.   
"What's going on?" Kitty, with Katherine in one arm, placed a concerned hand on her roommmate's shoulder, but it was immediately flung off. The two pairs of eyes still focused on Evan, who showed a look of terror on his face.  
"If you EVER call my sister... that... that NAME again, that... TERRIBLE, cruel name..." Miracle grabbed Evan's collar and pulled him close, her eyes menacing and ice. "It would take a miracle for you to survive what I would put you through," she whispered, like ice was being shoved down Evan's back, mountainfuls of cold, hard ice...   
"I... I don't understand!"  
Mara suddenly came out of her daze, and she looked around. A smile came to her lips and she leaned into Mir to whisper, "They don't know what it means!"  
Mir let go of Evan, confused. "They... they don't? Don't you guys speak Latin? At all? Just a little? Or any knowledge of the curse words, maybe?"  
They all shook their heads, weirded out. The sisters looked at each other and burst out laughing.  
"Oh! Oh my gosh we're so sorry!" Mara managed to say through the giggles.   
Mir stopped. "I still meant what I said though." She looked at Evan. "Never call my sister a bitch again."  
His eyes widened as he realized the potency of what he said. "Sheesh, I'm sorry..."  
All of a sudden, Amarantha stopped. Crystalline snowflakes began to fall around them as her lips turned blue, and the coloring drained from her face. Mir could tell it wasn't because of the cold weather.   
"Mara!"  
Amarantha fell to her knees. Mir cried out as she knelt and her sister leaned against her stiffly, her eyes wide and cold.   
"Mara... Mara," Mir whispered as she smoothed her long brown hair. "Mara... Amarantha, Amarantha Owen..."  
Kitty looked at Rogue, concerned. She nodded.  
"Mara..." Rogue said in a singsong tone. Amarantha began to pant heavily, her breath escaping her the minute it left her lips. She gasped, and then her eyes returned to normal. She let out a cry and buried herself in Mir's shoulder, crying.  
"Ummm... okay... I said I was sorry! Sheesh..." Spyke looked at his aunt, who looked at him and shook her head.  
"I have a feeling this wasn't about you, Evan," Rogue said.  
Mir looked around, "Kurt?" she asked through threatening tears. "Could you please, get her out of the cold?"  
Kurt nodded, solemn as Mir transferred her from her arms to his, still sobbing. Katherine noiselessly jumped from Kitty's arms, much to her surprise, to Kurt's shoulder. He then, much to Kitty's horror, BAMFed away.   
"Hey! Katherine! Ohhh... I'll get her later..."  
The others just watched in wonder and confusement.  
Miracle stood up shakily. "I... guess, I should explain," she said, looking around at the group.  
"Yes," Logan said gruffly, "I think you should."  
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Kurt gently laid down his friend on her bed and pulled the covers over her, to ensure her warmth. She cried into the pillow as Kurt removed her cloak and laid it over a chair to dry. He then sat next to her and rubbed her back rhythmically, smoothly muttering senseless things, trying to calm her down.  
"Oh... oh Kurt, it was horrible..." she said, still facing the pillow. She turned to face him and shakily sat up.   
"Do you vant anyzing?" He asked quietly. Amarantha smiled and shook her head as she sniffed and leaned back against her pillow. Katherine jumped onto the bed and- (AN: REALLY FREAKY MOMENT! As I was typing this, my cat, Cocoa, did the EXACT SAME THING! My mother and I were really freaked out!) (Okay, later on as I was proofing, SHE DID IT AGAIN! Cocoa has ESP, I tell ya!!)  
(An:*cough, cough* As I was saying,)  
Katherine jumped onto the bed and rubbed against Mara, purring loudly. The kitten had grown on them all over the last seven months, especially her owner. Now the feline looked quite healthy, thanks to her new family suroundings. If Kitty couldn't take care of her, for any reason, the others would jump at the chance to take care of the cute technicolor furball. Kurt smiled.  
"I'm glad to see Katherine likes you too..."  
"Oh, yeah, she likes everyone." Mara looked up at her teleporting friend. "You like Kitty, don't you?" she inquired.  
"Ummm... ja, she's a really great friend and all-"  
"That's not what I mean and you know it."  
Kurt blushed. "I... I... yes," he said with a sigh.  
Mara smiled. "She likes you too. I can tell. Pratically everyone can. I'm surprised you haven't caught on and asked her out."  
Kurt looked at her like she had just said she was a crazy alien from the planet Naa.  
"She deserves someone better zan me..." Kurt clicked off his watch and reverted to his natural form, the blue German fuzzy elf dude.  
Mara shook her head. "She still battles with you, when you're in your true form. She doesn't get repulsed and look away, does she?"  
"But that doesn't-"  
"Trust me. It may not look like she does to you, but she likes you. ALOT! It's really obvious, you really need to pay attention to what she does when she's around you."  
Kurt blushed deeper. "I... I can't. Every time I look at her..."  
"Aww, that's so cute!"  
"Okay, since vhen are ve talking about me and Kitty? You should lie still and rest, the others vill be up here soon. Are you okay now?"  
Mara smiled. "I'm okay..."   
"Do you want to talk about it?"  
Mara shuddered. "Only with my sister."  
"That's quite alright vith me." Kurt looked around, then back at Mara, who had closed her eyes and rested against the pillow.  
"Did you really mean vhat you said?" he whispered.  
"Yes, Kurt," Mara answered back.  
"Oh."   
The smile faded from her pale face. Kurt looked at her worridly.  
"What I remembered... it was so horrible..." Mara opened her eyes, not being able to stand the emptiness.   
"Are you sure you don't need a nurse?"  
"Yes, I'm sure... I just need Mir." After a pause, "Kurt? Stay with me, please. Until they come... I don't want to be alone. And I trust you."  
"Danke, Mara. Sure. Of course." Kurt smiled as he remembered the many times Amarantha had saved his life, AND Kitty's. Basically everyone. He had never felt anything for Mara and Mir other than strong friendship, and was very thankful for their presence at the Institute. He had come to depend on Mir's way of doing things with that certain edge, and Mara's kind and intelligent thoughfulness, especially in battle.   
Kurt grabbed a nearby chair and sat down, gently holding his friend's hand. Mara opened and closed her eyes again and again... frightened doesn't begin to describe how the dancing images before her made her feel...  
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"Mara!" Everyone crowded around the youth's bed, concerned for their teammate and friend.  
"Katherine!" Kitty exclaimed as the little furball leaped into her arms. She looked around at the glares focused on her. "What? I'm, like, worried about Mara too!"  
"Hold it!" Kurt whispered and shouted at the same time. He gestured to their friend, who was lying still, her eyes finally closed.  
"Everyone.. could you please let me talk to my sister alone?" Miracle glanced at Kurt, as if saying, "You too, buster."  
One by one they filed out of the room, grumbling their complaints as Mir shoo'd them out the door.  
"Don't worry, I'll bring updates and hellos to you all later." Miracle promised. She then shut the door quietly and rushed over to her sister's bed.  
"Mara..." Miracle gently placed a hand on her sister's arm...  
Mara gasped as she sat up with wide, smoky eyes. She gasped for breath and curled into a ball as she started sobbing with fear, relief, and fright.  
"Mara! Mara, it's okay, it's me!" Mir placed her hands on her sister's shoulders and leaned her against the pillow. "Come, talk to me..."  
"Oh... Mir..." Amarantha cried as she leaned against Mir, and the tears coursed down her cheeks. "I couldn't sleep... the nightmares..."  
"Shhh... It's alright, Mara." Mir smoothed her sister's hair and rocked back and forth, whispering quiet words of comfort to her precious sibling.   
"Miracle... it was horrible. We got lost, and we were all by ourselves. We came across a cave... oh, we were so young. Not even 8 years old. It was a place for play, to us. We had wandered so far from home... The cave... it was so mean! At first it showed us dancing paintings... the traveling performers, the singers and the dancers, the actors! One looked like Mother... and she did everything on stage, she was such a great performer, every time she went out there she took the audience's breath away. And the man... he was handsome, with strawberry blond hair, and the kind of eyes that made you want to dance with him forever... He the director, or manager, or whatever-the person in charge of the group... He looked at her with such love..."  
"Then there was a princess, with a jeweled tiara resting upon dark brown hair, and she was riding a beautiful white horse. Her elegant gown was gorgeous... She was riding through a forest, and she met up with a knight... his silver horse contrasted with his light brown hair. His clothes seemed to be the finest in all of Xanth... They were out of focus... we saw only their profiles. The princess sobbed and the knight comforted her, then they rode off together, quietly talking... then they faded."  
Mara had at frist spoken with awe and just a little fright. Now the fear overtook the surprise and was evident in her voice.   
"At first we weren't scared, and we went further and further into the cave... Oh, so little did we know! It was a game to us, a silly game. Then, echos started crying out our names, and then the walls made fun of us. Faster and faster, the wails cried out 'Amarantha' and 'Miracle!' The walls showed a purple flower that never died, and a person rising from the dead... Then we shouted at the echo, that our names weren't Amarantha and Miracle, but Mara and Mira. Then the echos 'corrected' themselves, and then they started chanting that, while the walls showed a really scary world, all red, surrounded by black, and all of it was empty, and mirrors, reflecting themselves so much they were turning green. By then we had stopped running and started to cry, and we wanted to go home so much... then, the water... the cave flooded with boiling water... We screamed and screamed! Nobody came, Mir! Nobody! Not even a nymph or an ogre, even a harpy would have appeared like hope to us then, it hurt so much! It soaked our clothes and burned our skin, and we couldn't breathe, it was rushing so fast..."  
Mara took a deep breath as she gazed into her memory, and shuddered as it crept up behind her.  
"Then we washed out of the Cave of Horrified Names, and when we woke up, we were home, and Mother was there, taking care of us..."  
"Shhh... it's okay. You're alright." Mir kissed her sister's forehead as a tear slid down her face, unnoticed. "You are Amarantha Owen Meoskite, not anyhting else. All that's behind us, no more hot water. No more cave."  
"What we didn't see, Mir... what we didn't see. We had washed against the mouth of the cave, which was lined with jagged rocks... Mother came. She found us. She carried us home in mid air. She telepathically floated us home. Then she took care of us. And... she didn't ask what happened."  
"Oh, Mara... we'll find answers soon. For now, cheer up. Everything's alright now."  
Mara smiled sadly at her sister. "I'm still shaken up, a little." Her eyes widened. "Kurt! Oh, Miracle, did you see... Oh, he, he's so much more than the facade he puts on."  
Mir raised an eyebrow questioningly.  
"Ohh... he's so trustworthy and kind, so much more serious than he normally seems. And guess what..."  
"What?"  
"He is totally GAGA over Kitty!" Mara laughed. "He can barely look at her without getting hearts in his eyes, it's that bad. I'm surprised he's lasted as long as he did without getting on his knees and begging her to marry him."  
"Really? No way."  
"Yes way! And you KNOW Kitty is so in love with him, she'd probably take him up on his offer!"  
"That's so cute!"  
Mara smiled, but it soon faded as she thought of something.  
"I hope we find love someday," she said in a wistful tone.  
"Why, of course we will. If only you smile a little, 'For Venus smiles not in a house of tears.'"  
"Oh come on Mir, you know I don't like the County Paris. I like Romeo much better. Next time, say one of his quotes. Or Juliet's. Or the Prince. Maybe Mercutio."  
"Hun, pratically everyone likes Romeo better than Paris. You've got to be insane not to. Here: 'What's in a name? What which we call a rose by any other would smell as sweet.' Also, 'Good-bye, good-bye. Parting is such sweet sorrow. That I shall say goodnight, 'till it be morrow.'"  
"That's Juliet. Both of them." The corner of Amarantha's mouth turned up in a small but cute smile.   
Mir smiled. "There you go. There's that smile. You're going to find the best man of all, with good looks and a nice personality and a big pay check, while I find someone like The Blob."  
After pausing for a moment, both girls grimaced with disgust.  
"Eeeew..." they said at the same time, then erupted into giggles.  
"Guys? Can we, like, see her now? Is she okay?" They heard a knock on the door, and Kitty's voice, although muffled, reached their ears. Mir turned to Mara.  
"Are you able to get up now? It's almost lunch time... and we haven't even made snow angels yet! OR a snowman!" Mir said.  
Mara smiled. "How about a snow mutant?"  
"Yeah, that too. We could learn from Kurt."  
Mara giggled. "I'll be okay. It just... took me by surprise. I'll get over it."  
"At least I'll have the next one," Mir referred to the rememberances as she offered an arm to her rising sister.  
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"Girls, today you have a visitor."  
It was a few days later, and Christmas was right around the corner. The mansion was decorated beautifully with lights and wreaths, and Christmas trees.   
The sisters had eaten lunch already and were on their way down the staircase, giggling with joy, to the main doors, dressed in their winter clothes and cloaks, when Professor X came to a stop in front of them. Mir came to a halt on the bottom step, and Mara almost crashed into her, but caught the banister in time.  
"Oh?" Mir questioned.   
"Aunt PL never told us she was coming to visit." Mara peered over her shoulder.  
The Prof shook his head. "This isn't your aunt, girls..." *Miss Maia Meoskite... err, Meos told me not to tell them who she was,* he reminded himself. *In fact, so did Miss PL. Strange family... "Your visitor is in my office. Feel free to go in. I thought you might want to spend some time alone." *Boy, this family sure has weird nicknames. Meos, PL, Mir and Mara...* the Prof said to himself. Well, he was kinda right, if you thought about what he knew about the Meoskites, which wasn't much.  
Mir looked at her sister questioningly and headed for the Prof's office, Mara right behind. They didn't know of anyone else who would come to visit them like that besides their aunt. It was most certainly a mystery.  
"Oh, and Mara? Mir?" The Prof called after them. The girls stopped and turned around.  
"The next time one of you has a recollection, please see me instead of worrying everyone half to death." The Prof said it warmly, with a kind smile, before he turned away, but the girls still blushed with embarrassment.  
"Okay, Prof..."  
"Umm... anyway, let's go, Mara."  
"I hope we still get to make the snowangels and snowmen... or, mutants later!" Mara said, mostly to herself, as she followed her older sibling into the Prof's office. But the thought was easily forgotten as they entered the room.   
The woman had her back to them. She was studying the collection of photos the Prof kept on the full length shelf, making her unable to recognize. Her hair was long, almost down to her knees, and was wavy and a very deep red. As far as the girls could tell, it wasn't done in any specific hairstyle; it just flowed down her back like a fiery creek, and it ended with an angle at the bottom. Her black blouse and long, rippled skirt made her seem taller than she actually was, especially since she was in high heels.   
After a moment, the woman turned around the face the girls, who had shut the door behind them. Her face was round, her limbs were graceful, her skin a pale white. Her expression showed hope, a little fear, and excitement. She hadn't worn much jewelry, except for two bracelets on her right wrist, the criss cross band on her ring finger, gold hoop earrings, and an enclosed metallic necklace. Her eyes changed colors rapidly, at first a green/grey, then a blue/green, then a brown/hazel, with flecks of yellow... Constantly adjusting, just like Miracle's.  
Mara gasped and put her hand to her mouth, her eyes wide. Miracle's expression was undefinable.  
"Hello, Amarantha Owen. Hello, Miracle..." the stranger said with a sad smile. Although, the mother of the two teenagers should hardly be called a stranger. "My name is Maia Meoskite... Meos to friends... Oh, it's been so long... too long, my daughters."  
"Muh... Ma... Mom?!" Amarantha ran into her mother's waiting arms, Miracle soon after her. Then the the dam opened up and flooded and the threesome started to cry, letting every burden of pain and suffering empty from their souls, everything they had endured over the long years of separation.  
After the group had calmed down, the girls dragged their mother to meet everyone; the others politely said their greetings and chatted quietly with Meos until dinner. Afterwards the sisters went up to Mara's room (it was neater and in more order than what Mir's could ever hope to be) and filled their mother in on everything that had happened since they were seperated. She listened quietly, smiling and crying at all the right places.   
At least an hour or two had passed; the girls were too busy to keep track of the hour, and time still found them surrounding Meos on Mara's bed, talking away about nothing in particular or everything all at once. Their mother kept kissing them on the forehead and hugging them close- it was hard to believe she was here, after so long, after she left them... She was just as they remembered... just as they recollected, just as they recalled...  
Of course, there was just one question that could not be avoided for long.  
"Mom?"  
"Yes, Miracle?" Meos smiled lovingly as she gazed at her daughter.  
"Why did you leave us?" Amarantha and Miracle looked at their mother with sad eyes, eyes that expressed their hurt over the many things they had forgotten, the things they had remembered, the things they will never know.  
Meos visibly saddened and hugged them both tight.  
"My little one, my pretty one..." she spoke in a calming tone that seemed to be made with honey, "it was not my choice. I had to, otherwise... SHE," Meos spoke with obvious disgust, "would have gotten to me, through you. I don't care WHAT Selene says, I swear, she's out there, just waiting to do... something! And I could never let her get you. Both of you. You'll just turn out like SHE did, or how I did, or worse..."  
"Who is *she?* The woman you're talking about," Miracle asked, the same time Amarantha exclaimed, "But you turned out just fine, Mom! I'd love to be you!"  
Meos laughed. The two girls were amazed; they hadn't heard her voice in a long time, and the disks didn't count. Her laugh was special; it wasn't harsh like the wind before a storm. It sounded like the wind in a meadow filled with precious flowers and grass, right after the rain. It was the sweetest sound they had ever heard.   
"In response to 'Rantha, you should have seen me back when I was your age. I was constantly looking over my shoulder, watching out for anything that could send me back. What I went through should never be repeated again, by me or by anyone else. And in response to Mira... my mother's name was Colleen."  
The girls gasped. Colleen... the name from Miracle's recollection. Colleen was Meos's mother? That meant... Colleen was their grandmother. And from the sound of it, that could not be good.  
They hadn't forgotten about her. They never could. What they remembered could never be let go. Especially if it was shared with the other sibling.   
That reminded them that their mother did not know that they remembered things... special things. So they immediately listened closely as their mother stroked their hair and told her tale... 


	5. Story Time, A Disturbance in the Night, ...

Chpt 5- Story Time, A Disturbance in the Night, and a Casualty  
  
"I was ten years old when she came for me. I had been living with my father, his second wife, and their son, since I could remember. Daddy had light brown hair and the eyes that changed color. Ammie had deep, dark purple hair, almost black, and it reached her waist. Her eyes were a shade of purple leaning more towards midnight blue. She had a kind face that always had a smile on it. Davie had sandy hair that was a mix of blond and mousy brown. His eyes... they were so cute, all green with brown flecks in them! He was a few years younger than me... All I knew back then was that Daddy had remarried Amethyst after I was born and that Davie was half of Daddy, half of Ammie. Oh, that's the reason you're never called Ammie, 'Rantha. It would bring back too many fond memories of my stepmother. Believe me, she was much kinder than Colleen ever treated me. She was such a wonderful mother to Davie and me, while Daddy oversaw the workers in the fields.  
"One day, during a storm, she came for me. She looked like you, Mira. She had the curly, light blond hair, and the same skeletal structure. But you, you have the black headband, and you cut your curls up to your shoulders- that's something she'd never do. And her eyes were blue- a cold kind of blue, like an iceberg or something like that. That's one of the reasons why I left you in safety. I felt, that, if she ever came back, and you reminded her of herself, she'd convert you right away and hope would be lost... Admit, you do have that rash edge, ready to do anything to get your way. 'Rantha's not like that- 'Rantha would be broken. She reminds me of... me, somehow, both of you do, in that way... Uhh, don't ask.  
"Colleen claimed me for her own, and wanted to train me to be a witch. Yes, girls, I am a witch... we'll get into that later. She wanted me for her own purposes, as her student, her servant, her slave. I was to learn to be an Evil Witch, just like her. See, she was evil and mean, and was connected to the Dark Arts, and that was the reason my father divorced her- it's a long story, but in the end, my father couldn't last, and he, Ammie, and Davie died. Killed by the stranger, to me at least, with cold eyes.  
"Before I was taken away, for punishment- I had called her 'Mom' instead of Colleen, my mistake- my soul was taken out of my body and encased in a clear casing, which was then placed on a necklace- the feeling was so heart wrenching, so painful, I was scared and I didn't know what was happening. Whoever held my soul would have complete control over me, and the farther I strayed from it, the weaker I would become, until I died.  
"Luckily, I grabbed it just in time. Enraged that her daughter should defy her so, she took me to her 'school,' where I was tortured and beaten and starved and abandoned and put down verbally until I got it right. I went through Hell. I was prisoned all alone, but still I kept my resolve. I would not die. I would live. But I could not run away- where would I go? Besides, there were no doors. Every room had a password, and if you said the right one, the wall disappeared for a moment, just enough to let you through. It was quite fun to guess without Colleen in the room. Although, I was never was told the password for the main door, with good reason, in Colleen's part. Oh, I could guess for hours... And the school itself was dimly lit by torches in holders on the walls. The ceiling was high, it was all a labyrinth. The walls twisted around and some were dead ends and some never ended at all.   
"One day she returned with a cellmate. My halfsister, on my mother's side- your Aunt PL. The Princess Luna I knew back then did not know how bad her fate had turned against her. I took care of my little sister when Colleen had beaten her senseless, I always was there for her. I encouraged her to live. I gave her what little remained of my strength for the day so she could prosper. I gave her the name PL, when she sometimes forgot that she was a Princess through her father, even though she was not a legitimate child. But no matter, she was always a princess to me. Although she learned so much of the Great Arts, she was so little... so young, it pained me to see her frail, brittle, and thin. She was only 2 1/2 years younger than me... I longed to see her smile. She's my baby, my little girl. As if I was Mira and PL was 'Rantha. You two have something special... just like me and PL.  
"I was rarely let out into the world. If ever, it was because I could sneak out after Colleen was going to get new students. She would leave and I would sneak out beind her, she never knew... It was then I encountered Kassandra Selenite- Selene, as she was called by the people who surrounded her... and soon, by me. Yes, she's the one and only 'Auntie Selene.' Oh, I laugh at how happy you children made her... Selene lived nearby; back then she didn't have wings. She was alive and well, but not happy. See, she was a princess, and half demon, and she didn't want to be queen of her lands... therefore, later on, she ran away, but sadly she fell in a lake and drowned. She then became a ghost, and she rescued me... Unfortunately, only me. We couldn't spare to take the time to rescue PL. I beat myself up for it for years, until I went back to save her. But in the meantime, at the age of thirteen, after three long years of torture for minor crimes, I had freedom.   
"Selene and I ran away to a nice little town called Cupid's Arrow. We moved into houses right next to each other, it was nice. By then I had had my training as a witch- Selene practiced the art as well- and I was quite capable in recognizing the Dark Arts, though I never practiced it myself. We met such nice people there, in C.A., such nice friends. C.A. itself has it's own story... a long, tiring one. It was there that, with the right allies, we gathered enough people to go back, rescue PL, and destroy Colleen and her school of the Dark Arts. It was there, in C.A., that Selene went from being a ghost to an angel. Oh, we had such adventures there... There we found Minuit, and Tobias, and Toodles! They went with us everywhere; later on, Toodles grew on Selene, much as she won't admit it, so I let her keep him. Minuit and Tobias I trained first, so Selene let me keep them. Oh, don't worry- Min and Toby are staying with Aunt PL while I'm with you, and Toodles is happily destroying Selene's home. Although, I'm not so sure if Selene is happily chasing him from room to room...  
"I left C.A. when I was ready. I regret, now, that I haven't remained in close contact with some of the people there. Mostly people came and went, but the people whose hearts were struck by Cupid's Arrow stayed. My heart had been struck, but slowly the hole closed, and I found myself wandering from town to town, searching for something... and I had yet to figure out what.  
"I came across- No, 'Rantha, at first I had lost touch with Selene and PL, but later on we found each other again, and they frequently visited- Yes, I'm getting to that. I came across a magical land called Xanth- yes, home. A travelling performance group took me in, and- 'Rantha? Why the sudden pale face? Oh, I see, the heat just came on. The sudden change in temperature must have affected both you and Mira. Anyway, they taught me that I could do anything. And if I could do anything, why couldn't I sing, dance, and act? Anyway, I quickly fell in love with the director. Christopher was so handsome... he had strawberry blond hair, and soft blue eyes... Nothing like the harshness Colleen had. 'Rantha, are you sure you're alright? Sure? Okay... you know, if you two ever need anything, I will be HAPPY to do anything within my power to make it happen... Oh, I've missed you so much... Oh yes, of course. I'll continue.  
"Well, it soon turned out that Chris felt the same way about me. I had only done six shows when I realized that I was pregnant. I was overjoyed to finally have a family, a loving family. I couldn't wait to tell Chris...  
"Unfortunately we were passing through the Gap Chasm at the time. Whom you know as the friendly Stanley Steamer who will let anyone cross through as long as they have a pass from Princess Ivy, was back then known as the fierce Gap Dragon, who didn't let ANYBODY pass through, no exceptions. Chris died, Miracle... your father died. He never knew. Nine months later I had turned 21, retired from the troupe, moved to a small nameless town south of the Gap Chasm, and had you, Mir. It was then that PL came again, and she helped me raise you. I was in a state of horror when I realized you had bright yellow curls. I thought you would grow up like Colleen... and in some ways, you do remind me of her. You, though, will never become like her, in the evil sense. Not if I could help it.  
"By the time you were three, Miracle, I decided to go to the Good Magician. I needed to know how I could prevent you from becoming like my evil mother. I never got there. I had stopped at Castle Roogna, and there I met the new king. By then I had learned to fend for myself and saved him from some trouble or other... It's not important. It's a lost chapter in Xanthian history... Anyway, his wife had a friend, who had a niece, whose parents had died in an accident. They were too busy rasing their own children, AND ruling Xanth at the same time. Their friend had no siblings, and their friend couldn't take care of the child. 'Would you be willing to take on the two year old little girl?' they asked me. I could never turn down an opportunity to do some good, so I said yes. That's you, 'Rantha. I brought you home and you two just clicked. And... one time, when you girls were about seven or eight, Selene came by. It was then that I realized... I cannot put you two in any more danger. There is always the chance she could come by and take you away from me... I'd rather do that myself and gaurantee your safety than leave it up to chance and turn you two into Evil's minions.  
"PL and I took you out of Xanth and into Florida. While in Xanth, though, you developed magic talents, besides being witches. Yes, you're a witch too, 'Rantha, even though you are not of my blood. Everyone can be a witch or wizard, or sorceror, or anyone having to do with magic, if they want it that badly, and I taught some things before I left.   
"You obviously retained the magic talents even outside of Xanth, and those talents were misinterpreted as mutations. You girls can do much, much more than you can now. Powers beyond your most wildest dreams. No, I can't show you now. Tomorrow. For now, let us talk more..."  
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Mara and Mir didn't have to plead with their roommates long for them to agree, it was okay for Mir to sleep in Kitty's bed, just this once. It was a special occasion, after all. When the girls finally allowed themselves to get ready for sleep, they begged their mother to sing them the lullabies.  
"Mom, we haven't heard you sing for a long time..."  
"But didn't your Aunt PL give you the disks?"  
"Yes, but that isn't the same..." Mara said wistfully.  
"Alright," Meos smiled. "Which one would you like to hear?"  
"Well, Kitty and I left off last at Dites-moi..."  
"We did at Fairy Tale!"  
Meos laughed. "I'll try both."  
With that, Meos began to sing, with the most parfait accènt... (perfect accent)  
"Dites-moi  
Pouquoi  
La vie est belle  
Dites-moi  
Pourquoi  
La vie est gaie...  
Dites-moi  
Pourquoi  
Chère mademoiselle  
Est-ce que  
Parce que  
Vous m'aimez?"  
The girls closed their eyes and let themselves be caught up with the melodious music that soon began to magically accompany their mother's voice. Meos smiled before she finished the song.  
"Tell me  
Why  
Life is beautiful  
Tell me  
Why  
Life is gay...  
Tell me  
Why  
Dear miss  
Is it  
Because  
You love me?"  
Soon Mara was fast asleep, and Mir barely kept her eyes open.  
"Please, Mom... Fairy Tale..."  
"Oh course, dear. No need to parttake in it- I will provide the illusion myself this time."  
"Okay..." Mir said sleepily.  
Meos quietly hummed and "dah'd" and "dun'd" the tune to Fairy Tale (it had no words), quietly ranging up and down and randomly about the music scale, the music joining in, softly creating the illusion of a princess riding through a forest, and meeting a gallant knight...  
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Meos watched in horror as her mother laughed evilly in front of her. She looked just the same, filled with an evil aura that was sure to make even the bravest bear huddle up in a ball of fear. She watched her place her on the wall, in shackles, next to her daughters, both unconcious. They never had a chance.   
"No!" Meos cried out, again and again, as if the words of protest were going to make the evil creature change her mind. Meos writhed about, trying to escape, to break free of the bonds that trapped her to the wall, just like Mir and Mara. She couldn't operate her magic within the bounds and chains her mother had placed on her; that she had learned with pain and horror.   
She watched as her mother took out her whip and cracked it against the air, making Meos flinch.  
"No! Let them go! They didn't do anything to you, please! Let them go! I'll do anything, anything you want, but please, LET THEM GO!"   
Meos's mother grinned silently, as if words would never express the feeling of satisfaction, then brought down the whip upon her red haired daughter-  
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"Ahhh!" Meos woke up from the terrible nightmare and realized where she was.  
"Ohh... oh, I'm here. I'm in the hotel room," she gasped. It was still dark out, and she looked at the clock.  
"Oh shoot... it's only 4 am! I'll never get back to sleep!" She impatiently sat back and pouted. "I hate that nightmare... Even now, she still won't let me have peace."  
Meos glanced outside the window. The moon was out, reminding her of the nights she had spent playing on her father's lands, the times she had spent with Selene plotting their escape, her peaceful nights in C.A., the romantic moonlit walks she had taken with Chris, and finally, the nights she had spent watching her two young little girls sleep.  
What she didn't want to tell her children is where she had been after she left. She knew Mir and Mara would ask soon... Where she really had been was in other dimensions. Weird ones, normal ones, ones in times of peace, others in times of war. Once, she had entered the mind of a young girl... She hadn't meant to take the girl captive, but once she was in there, she couldn't get out. The girl was a magnet for cases like this. The last one the young teenager had to kill off. But this girl understood Meos's situation... Finally, she let her go. Meos returned home, and she began to have the nightmares. That's when she had decided a short visit couldn't hurt.  
Meos glanced out into the moon once more, drinking in the moonbeams, letting the rays purge her. Then she rose, got dressed, threw on her black cloak with glittering red trim and her sign, (a heart with a chicken's foot in it, then a cross above it with three dots near the end points), and left for the Institute.  
Just a short visit.  
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Meanwhile, at the Brotherhood, Evil things are known to use the night to their advantages. So of course Mystique was up, interrogating this "wonderful, new type of mutant" Magneto had been raving about that afternoon.   
Anything to defend her title.  
Mystique glanced with fake casualty at the newcomer and shifted in her chair. She crossed her legs and examined her briefly but without overlooking the details. The newcomer wore a black winter cloak lined with a shining yellow trim. There was some sort of embroidered pattern near the right shoulder, some sort of star inside a circle, with squiggly lines raying from the points. Her sleek snow boots barely showed from underneath the cloak. Her hood was covering her face, but Mystique could barely make out dark gold ringlets escaping the darkness inside. Her skin would surely blend in with the snow, it was so pale. Her long nails were painted black with rhinestones glued in the middle, and her hands were covered in the most elaborate jewlery, gold and diamonds and silver, precious gems. One hand, though, held a thin whip.  
"So, Miss..." Mystique paused, waiting for a name, but there was no reply. "Oh, I see. Magneto hasn't given you a name yet. Well, for now, names aren't important. Have you been approached by a certain 'Charles Xavier' yet?"  
The woman shook her head no.  
"Excellent," Mystique smiled. This was their new secret weapon (... after the last ones had been tried and failed so miserably.) "Let's see what you can do." Mystique sat back to watch. This should be interesting.  
The woman rose and slowly pointed a smooth finger at Mystique. Suddenly black energy emitted from it, and Mystique dodged out of the way just in time. The wall behind her had a hole in it the size of Delaware. (Or maybe Idaho...)  
But the woman wasn't finished. The woman changed shape, so that she now looked like Mystique. The expensive pen in Mystique's hand began to rise straight into the air. It dropped as the woman began to perform all sorts of types of powers, all at once. This woman did everything! Mystique was amazed.  
"Okay! Okay, I get it. You'll be a wonderful asset to the Brotherhood!" Mystique watched carefully as the woman changed back to her natural form, sat down and watched Mystique watch her.  
"Do you have any potential enemies?" Mystique continued.  
The woman hesitated for a moment, then slowly shook her head. Mystique couldn't see through the darkness of the hood the evil grin the spread along the woman's lips...  
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"Miracle? Amarantha?" Meos crept to their beds, her cloak sweeping about her, her hood pulled up over her head. "Mira? 'Rantha?"  
She paused to stare. In the moonlight, their faces were bathed with pale rays, their hair surrounding their heads in perfect disarray. They softly breathed as they slept, and Meos couldn't help but stand there and love them both...  
"Hold it right there!" Suddenly, the lights came on, and Mir and Mara woke up to a cloaked figure whirling around and lots of confusement.  
"Wha... what?"  
"What's going on?" The sisters sat up and looked at Kitty, with Katherine at her feet, poised and ready to strike at any moment, and Kurt. They were standing by the door, ready to fight to protect their friends.  
"Oh dear... I fear there's been a mistake," Meos said.  
"'Mystique?' Did she, like, say 'Mystique?'" Kitty gazed in wonder at Meos.  
"What? Mother, vhat do you vant here? Hau ab!" Kurt glared. (Hau ab= get lost.)  
"No, no. She didn't say 'Mystique.' She said 'mistake!'" Mir got up and approached Meos.  
"I bet it would help if you lowered your hood, Mom." Mara hugged her mother as she lowered her hood. Dark red rings escaped the encasement of the hood.  
Kurt and Kitty stood there with embarrasment.   
"Oh my gosh! I am, like, SO sorry, Miss Meoskite! I didn't know- we saw a figure, like, going into the room, and we were worried-"  
"Ve apologize, Miss Meoskite. Ve presumed..."  
Meos laughed, and the sisters smiled. "Oh, you are Kitty, are you not? And of course, you are Kurt. Please, if there are any apologies to be made, they shall be made by me. I probably shouldn't have come so late at night, I just wanted to check up on my baby girls... and, please, call me Meos!"  
"Mom, we're not babies... although I did miss you!" Mara grinned and hugged her mother once more.  
"What exactly are you guys doing up so late anyway?" Mir asked.  
Kurt and Kitty blushed.  
"Ohhh! Kitty, tell me! What happened? What did you guys do? Oh come ON Kitty, before everyone else wakes up!"  
"Nothin happened, Mir..." Kitty said shyly. Kurt looked at the floor.  
Meos looked from her daughters to their friends. "I think it is my time and place to leave... I'm so sorry to have raised such confusion, you all must be tired. Goodnight, girls, I will see you later on today."  
"Goodnight Mom!" the sisters cried out in unison and hugged their mother goodbye.  
Meos then, after a wink to Kurt and Kitty, disappeared. That's it, just simply... disappeared. Nothing fancy, no smoke, so mist... just, gone.  
They all blinked.  
'Dude..." Kurt said.  
Mir breathed in sharply with a gasp and turned to Kitty.  
"Kitty! Tell me what happened!"  
"Nothing happened! Go back to sleep." Kitty demurred but Mir grabbed her arm.   
"Kitty!" Mir looked at her friend with sparkling eyes.  
Mara glanced at Kurt. "I, too, am kind of curious as to what you two were doing up so early..."  
Kurt blushed. "It vas nothing like zat!"  
"What were you doing, then?"  
"Talking! We were, like, talking, okay?"  
"About?..." Mir let go of Kitty's arm expectantly.  
Kitty sighed. "Avalanche asked me out."  
"What?!"  
All the girls grimaced with disgust. "EEEEEEEEEW!"  
"Yeah, that's what I did... almost."  
"So what are you going to do?"  
"What do you mean, Mara? Of course she's going to tell him off. She can't stand the guy. Right?... RIGHT?"  
"Well..."  
Kurt turned to Kitty. "Zat's vhat ve vere just discussing. I'm glad ve vere both up and in the common room vhen ve vere..."  
"Kitty, why didn't you tell us?"  
"At first I didn't tell anybody. It was a decision I needed to make for myself-"  
"What is there to decide!?" Mir said, outraged.   
"Ahem! I meant, whether to, like, politely tell him that I don't want to date him, or to, like, tell him how I really feel."  
"Oh... don't scare me like that!"  
"Sorry. Anyway, I couldn't sleep, so I went down to the common room to see if I could find anything to do, when I saw Kurt-"  
"I wasn't able to sleep either- I don't know vhy." Kurt shrugged.  
Mir and Mara exchanged smirks but said nothing.  
"And then we got to talking, and then everything just sorta... escaped. THEN, like, your mom came-"  
"By ze vay, ve're REALLY sorry about zat!"  
Mir rolled her eyes as Kitty picked up Katherine, who by then had lazily lied down, now that the threat was gone.   
"It's okay, Kurt, Kitty. Anyway, continue."  
Kitty nodded. "Well, Kurt had been walking me back to the room, since I was pratically falling asleep..."  
"Voilà. Here ve are. As zey say, 'ze rest is history.'"  
"Hmm... So, what do we do-"  
"Amarantha!" Mir's eyes widened and she slammed her hand over her sister's mouth. "Mara, you- you... don't you dare!"  
Kurt and Kitty looked at each other, confused. Mara opened her eyes wide and nodded vigorously.  
"Now, when I let go, DO NOT finish the question..."  
Mara looked skeptically at her sister, then nodded. Mir pulled her hand away...  
Both sisters heaved a sigh of relief.  
"THAT was close."  
"I'm sorry! I forgot!" Mara said, upset.  
"Okay, vhat's going on here?" Kurt asked.  
"We can't ask that question."  
"What question?"  
"The one Mara almost asked!"  
"That's not helping!" Kitty put her hands on her hips. Mara laughed and shook her head.  
"I guess it doesn't matter. But whenever we ask that question, things ALWAYS go wrong! It's a family curse. There's another phrase we can't say... I wanna go- "  
"Mir!"  
"I got it! Don't worry. Anyway, we can't say 'home' after that either, we'll.... Gee, I dunno what will happen! We never questioned Aunt PL's word..."  
"Oh brother," Kurt commented. *Zese girls go off topic vay too much,* he thought.  
"Yeah." Kitty agreed.  
Kurt shifted his feet nervously. "So, I'm going to go to bed now. Good night... umm, Kitty, I'll talk to you later."  
With that, Kurt BAMFed to his room. The three girls glanced around at one another, then shrieked with excitement.   
"Oh, Kitty, he TOTALLY adores you!"  
"Kitty you HAVE to go out with him, don't put yourselves under this torture!"  
"Oh, it's just like Romeo and Juliet!"  
"West Side Story!"  
"Romeo!"  
"Maria!"  
Mir and Mara laughed and started to mock waltz with each other. Kitty turned away.  
"It's not that easy..."  
*Girls, I suggest you go to sleep. Cerebro had detected a new mutant, and unfortunately, we didn't get there in time. There will be a long day tomorrow in training.*  
"Professor! Exactly how long have you been listening?" Mir cried out.  
*Good night, Miracle. Amarantha; Kitty.*  
Miracle pouted.   
"Of course, Prof," Mara said warmly. "I'm sure we would need our sleep regardless. I suppose, now, that Mir and I will go back to our... regular sleeping arrangements, no?" Mara raised an eyebrow at her sister. Mir glared back, but then gave up.  
"Fine. Kitty, you are saved by the Prof. Good night, see you all in the morning!" she said roughly. Mir waved good night to her sister and Kitty, then stormed out the door, turning off the light as she went. Mara and Kitty looked at each other in the darkness and shrugged.  
"Goodnight, Kitty," Mara said warmly.  
"'Night Mara," Kitty said with a sigh. She, Katherine, and Mara once again soon fell asleep to the sound of the disk running it's usual lullabies...  
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Mir yawned and stretched as sunlight streamed through the room. She looked at the nightstand next to her bed but then remembered she had destroyed the alarm clock with much joy months earlier. Mir sleepily got out of bed and walked over to Rogue.  
"Rogue.." she whispered. No reply. She reached out and shook Rogue's shoulder. Rogue turned over and sighed, still asleep.  
"Wait... what am I whispering for? Oh wow, last night was exciting..."  
"Huh? Wha? Oh, it's you. Wait, why are you in here? I thought..."  
"Oh come on. I'll explain to you at breakfast. Meanwhile, it's your turn to go first."  
"Ohh man..."  
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After breakfast the subject of Kitty and Kurt's potential romance was soon filed away in Miracle and Amarantha's minds, as their training commenced.  
"Come on, Everlast. You can do it," the Prof said, Storm by his side. (AN: As much as I love her character, she can't do anything important in this scene.)  
He had her trying to make a stuffed toy purple dinosaur last through Wolverine's slashing, with Jean telepathically moving it all over the place.   
Everlast sighed. "I'm sorry Prof... My heart's just not in it."  
"Neither would mine, if I had to defend THAT," Rogue commented from her personal training area.  
"Who asked you?" Cyclops asked from behind her.  
"Why are you so touchy?"  
Jean whispered, "He's the one who donated the thing."  
Silence. It took a lot of willpower for all of them not to burst out laughing.  
Meanwhile, Miracle fought with Rogue and Cyclops. Rogue had placed her hands on him, and Mir had to heal him while Rogue had her hands on him, AND both of them had to dodge the dangerous fire, if they didn't want to get burned. Not that they couldn't heal themselves after, but, still...   
Kitty had to move through Kurt without either of them fainting... if she could catch him, since he was dodging the spears thrown by Spyke.  
All in all, things were going pretty well.   
Suddenly, the Prof's watch beeped. He looked at the group and clapped his hands.  
"Okay, everyone, break!"  
All at once everyone stopped with sighs of relief. Rogue put her on gloves, while Scott put his sunglass back on and chatted with Mir quietly ("I loved that dinosaur!").  
Wolverine withdrew his claws, while Jean relaxed. Mara sighed, "Sheesh..."  
"Oh man, I'm beat," Spyke complained.   
"Ohhh..." Kitty collapsed in a heap of exhaustion, combined with the fact that she had gone through Kurt WAY too many times.   
"Kitty!" Kurt rushed over to her.  
"Well... at least her recouperation time is getting better... gradually," The Prof said as Kitty opened her eyes and sat up.  
"Oh... Kurt?"  
"Ja?"  
"Oh." Kitty closed her eyes and rested against Kurt. His eyes got big and wide, and he awkwardly wrapped his arms around her.  
Rogue nudged Mir as she watched. Mir smirked and looked at Mara, who glanced back, then watched the two. Soon the whole room was watching the couple.  
"Maybe Kitty should go rest in her room," the Prof approached them.  
Kitty looked up at the Prof, her arms wrapped around Kurt's neck. "Can Kurt take me, then?"  
"Now, Kitty, I don't like everyone taking advantage of poor Kur-"  
"Oh, I don't mind, Professor!"  
"Besides, aren't you, like, totally teaching us about teamwork all the time?" Kitty said, batting her eyes with emphasis.  
The Prof sighed. "Oh, alright."  
Kitty giggled as Kurt gathered her in his arms and BAMFed away.  
1...2...3!  
"Awwwwwww!" All the girls said together. Wolverine rolled his eyes and looked at Scott, who winked.  
"Well, somebody had to see this coming," Spyke said.   
All the girls giggled. 


	6. The Dangers of Playing Hide and Seek, an...

Chpt 6- The Dangers of Playing Hide and Seek, and Three Witches Are Better Than One  
  
"Are you okay now?" Kurt asked, concerned. He had placed Kitty in bed, after making sure she wasn't hurt anywhere.  
"Yeah, I'm fine... I'm just totally tired right now," Kitt said, the exhaustion clear in her voice. "I'll be okay, after some rest..."  
"You should go to sleep now."  
"Mmm hmm... I feel so bad for you. First you take care of Mara, then me..."  
Kurt shrugged. "I don't mind it."  
There was an awkward silence which filled the air. Kurt shifted his feet nervously.  
Kitty took a deep breath. "Do you like me, Kurt?"  
"Huh? Oh, ja! You're a great friend, Kitty."  
"That's not what I mean..."  
Kurt blushed. "I... I... ja."  
Kitty sat up and looked at him. "But your always making jokes and teasing me!"  
"Kitty, I do zat to everyone. I just... try to put everyone in a better mood, I guess..." Kurt looked down. "Now you hate me."  
"No!"  
Kurt looked up. Kitty blushed. "I... I totally don't hate you! In fact, you've, like, been really nice to me, at times, and you've, like, saved my life once or twice.. okay, a lot. I don't hate you, Kurt..."  
Kurt smiled. "Do you like me?" Kitty nodded, clutching the blankets with her hands, her ponytail bobbing up and down.  
Kurt swished his tail absentmindedly and grinned. "You're not going to date Avalanche, are you?"  
Kitty shook her head and crinkled her nose. "Like, totally icksome! No, I'm going to date some one else... Some one better, if he ever gets around to asking me."  
Kurt paled. "Really? Who?" The swishing stopped.  
Kitty sighed. "Like, YOU! Duh!" She looked down.  
Kurt's color returned to his cheeks as he blushed. The swishing returned. "Oh, ja... Umm, Kitty?"  
"Yes?"  
"Vould you vant to.. I dunno, go to a movie sometime?"  
Kitty grinned and nodded. Kurt smiled and kissed Kitty on the cheek.  
"For now, go to sleep. I don't vant you exhausted."  
Kurt backed away, ready to BAMF back to the Danger Room, but as soon as Kitty's eyes began to close, they opened again and she sat up with a gasp.  
"Katherine!"  
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Outside in the snow, cute little pawprints were quickly filled up and covered with the rapidly falling snowflakes. Katherine meowed and sat down. It had been hours since she had been put outside on the porch... and no one knew about the small tear she had put in the screen so she could get out and chase the snowflakes. She was tired, she was cold, she was hungry... and she was lost. Where was Master Kitty?  
"Miaow! Reaow... Hisss!"  
"Bonjour, Kathy..." An eerie voice said, not that Katherine knew the meaning. But she didn't like it.  
A shadow fell onto Katherine, and she lept up and swatted at the coarse bag that trapped her, shaking off the pile of snowflakes that had accumulated on her. All at once, everything went dark. Katherine meowed and hissed and cried and tried to rip the material around her apart, but it was no use. Then she felt a jolt. She was thrown. She fell with a howl, and instantly fell into uncounciousness.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
"Katherine! Katherine! Professor, still no luck?" Kitty asked as she called for her pet.  
They were all outside looking and calling for Katherine, even Kitty, who would never stay bedridden while her friends were outside trying to find her cat, no matter what anyone said.  
"No, Kitty. I don't think she's even on the grounds."  
"Oh, Professor! She can't have gone far! And I know Katherine, she would, like, NEVER try to run away!"  
"It's not that she tried to run away, Kitty. I think she was kidnapped."  
"Vouldn't it be catnapped, zen?"  
"This is SERIOUS, Kurt!" Kitty glared at the fuzzy elf, who had BAMFed to her side just in time to hear the professor's presumptions.  
Kurt winced, "Sorry, Katzchen."  
The Prof chuckled. "I would guess Kurt is correct, in this case."  
"Vait, I don't zink she's asleep. She might not be able to 'cat nap' vith a stranger."  
"Kurt, that was, like, so totally bad," Kitty grimaced.  
"I didn't zink so," Kurt shrugged.  
The Prof's face turned grim. "I had picked up another mind, ten or fifteen minutes ago. It was not a new mind, so at first I wasn't concerned..." The Prof then closed his eyes and put two fingers to his temples. Kitty gasped.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
"Katherine! Katherine, where are you?" Mara looked around, seeing only trees, and snow. Snow on the ground, snow falling from the sky, snow on her hair and cloak...  
"'Rantha? What's going on?" Mara turned and found her mother smiling kindly behind her.  
"Mom!" Mara smiled and hugged Meos tight.  
"Hello, little one," Meos looked around. "So, what's all the commotion about?"  
"Katherine, Kitty's cat," Mara paused, said "Kitty's cat" again to herself, then giggled, "err, anyway, she's missing! We've looked all over the mansion, and we couldn't find her. So now we're checking the grounds."  
"Has anyone had any luck?"  
Mara shook her head. "Not that I know of. If they did, they should've told the Prof, and then he would've broadcasted the news to us. I haven't heard anything yet, so I'm assuming Kitty is still distraught over poor Katherine..."  
"Oh, the poor dear."  
"No, the poor cat. I don't think the Prof would let Kitty keep a deer at the Institute... let alone New York. Wait, maybe the Bronx Zoo..." Mara smirked.   
Meos smiled. "Is there any chance that I could help?"  
"Mom!" Mir came running over, her cloak billowing behind her, and squeezed her mother hello.  
"Oh, my!" Meos kissed the top of Mir's head. "'Rantha told me all about poor Kitty's cat." Meos winked at Mara, who laughed. "Let's go see Professor Xavier, so I can help."  
They walked out of the woods to where Kitty, Kurt, and the Prof where talking. Kitty and Kurt, at first, had their backs to Meos, Mir, and Mara, but when they heard the footsteps in the snow they whirled around angrily.  
'Hey Kurt, Kitty, Prof, looks who's here!"  
"Where's my Katherine?" Kitty pretty much attacked Meos.  
"Now, Kitty, I'm not sure if she's the one who took Katherine-"  
"I don't care! Where's my Katherine?"  
"Kitty!" Mara stared with shock at her roommate. "You can't honestly think-"  
"Yes I can! Kurt, let me go! The Prof told us everything, you'd better tell me what you've done with my Katherine, or else!"  
"But, Kitty, I didn't take Katherine! Why would I have any reason to?"  
"Nice try!"  
"Kitty, my mom could never have taken Katherine! She's not like that!"  
"Give me my Katherine!"  
"Kitty, please, calm down." The Prof closed his eyes and put two ingers to his temples. Kitty's eyes closed and she knelt in the snow.  
"Kitty..." Kurt's eyes were wide as he knelt next to his girlfriend.  
"Don't worry Kurt, she's just in a trance. I'll take her out of it as soon as we find out exactly what is going on."  
Suddenly, a cloaked and hooded figure holding a thin whip appeared next to Meos and wrapped the whip around her neck, pratically choking her. Meos cried out.  
*Everyone, return to the courtyard. There's an emergency!* The Prof thought out to everyone.   
The cloaked figure had a star inside a circle, with squiggly lines raying from the points embroidered on her cloak, which was lined with a sickly yellow. Slowly the figure lowered her hood while retaining a grip on Meos. Underneath the hood was a young, feminine, pretty face, round and pale, with cold blue eyes and bright red lips, surrounded by curly blonde hair that reached her ankles. Her hands were covered with rings, and her necklaces sparkled together with the falling snowflakes. Her gold hoop earrings and her many bracelets jingled as she turned her head to whisper harshly in Meos's ear. "Bonjour, ma fille..."  
Meos spoke with bitter hatred. "Bonjour... mère."  
The woman shoved Meos to the snow with powerful force and focused on the group before her.  
"No!" Mir reached out to her mother, who struggled to rise, but Mara pulled her back.   
"It's HER!" she whispered. "It's Colleen!" Mir's eyes widened, and she nodded, understanding. Kurt gathered Kitty into his arms and backed up until he stood with the Professor.  
*Where are the others? They should have been here by now!* The Prof thought. Then the answers to his question emerged from the woods.  
Quicksilver zoomed to a few feet behind Colleen, and an unconcious Spyke fell from his shoulder to the cold, white snow. Toad dropped Rogue to the ground with gloved hands, and the Blob ("Eeeew!") carefully laid Jean to the floor. Avalanche ("Eeeew!") grinned as he brought Scott. Sabretooth dragged Logan through the snow with glee. Mystique sighed with aggravation as she lied Storm in front of her. All the X-Men were unconcious, and would probably be out for quite a while.  
"Mother..." Kurt said to himself.  
"What is your business here?" The Prof asked.  
Meos quietly rose to her feet and tried to get to Mara and Mir, but she instantly fell when Colleen, with a smirk on her face, shot blue sparks at her.  
Meos at first had been torn on teaching Mir and Mara more magic. If she didn't, they'd have no advantage when fighting. If she did, Colleen would be attracted to the new source of magic, and then realize that they were her grandchildren, and the nightmares would come true...  
Now it was too late. Colleen was here, and Meos had unknowingly brought harm unto her children, and their friends.  
"We have all waited for this day," Mystique smirked. "This time, we will have our way. WE will win, this time." She walked over to the Prof. "Meet our new teammate, Professor... Miss Colleen Meoskite."  
Mara let out a cry.   
"'Rantha! Mira! Get out! All of you, escape while you can-"  
Colleen walked up to the struggling Meos and dug her boot into her back.  
"Tais-toi!" she yelled. Her voice was harsh and cold, just like her yes... just like her.  
Mir and Mara glanced at each other. Of all the languages they had learned, they had never been taught French! Now they knew why.  
Toad laughed at them. "Hah-hah, you all don't know what she said," he taunted. "We all do... we have microchips in our brains, that translates every word she says!"  
*Vhat brains?* Kurt thought to himself, as Toad continued teasing the X-Men that were awake.  
Colleen, annoyed, threw blue sparks at Toad as well. He fell backward into the snow, quiet at last.  
"Tais-toi, aussi," she muttered. She then focused on her new enemies.   
"Donnez-moi la fille avec cheveux blonde et la fille à côté d'elle." Her voice was now coated with honey, and she smiled sweetly.  
The Blob grabbed hold of Mir, and Avalanche grabbed hold of Mara, and brought them to Colleen. The sisters were frozen in fright. Meos struggled not to cry out.  
Colleen studied the two sisters closely. She then peered at Miracle.  
"Tu as inhérité mes cheveux..." Mir struggled under Colleen's hold. Colleen chuckled. "... et ma personnalité. Mais tu..." she turned to Mara, "tu n'as pas quelquechose de moi... peut-être la gentillenesse de ta mère... err, la gentillenesse de Maia..."  
Colleen looked above their heads at the Prof, Kurt with Kitty, and the collection of X-Men members laying in the snow.  
"Tuez-les," she said, her voice once again cruel and heartless.  
"RUN!" Meos went pale as she translated for them.   
The Brotherhood members charged the Professor, Kurt and Kitty, as Colleen disappeared with Mir, Mara, and Meos, without a trace.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
* "Bonjour, Kathy..." "Hello, Kathy..."  
* "Bonjour, ma fille..." "Hello, my daughter."  
* "Bonjour, mère..." "Hello, mother."  
* "Tais-toi!" "Shut up!"  
* "Tais-toi, aussi." "You shut up too."  
* "Donnez-moi la fille avec cheveux blonde et la fille à côté elle."  
"Give me the girl with blond hair and the girl next to her."  
* "Tu as inhérité mes cheveux... et ma personnalité. Mais tu, tu n'as pas quelquechose de moi... peut-être la gentillenesse de ta mère... err, la gentillenesse de Maia..."  
"You inherited my hair... and my personality. But you, you don't have anything from me... maybe your mother's kindness... err, Maia's kindness."  
* "Tuez-les." "Kill them."  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
Kurt winced and BAMFed away, still carrying Kitty.  
"Kurt!" The Prof cried out.  
"Nuh uh, I'm over here! Vhy don't you guys come and get me?" Kurt BAMFed to a few feet away, without Kitty.   
"No one harm him!" Mystique shouted as the others rushed past her to get to the taunting prey.   
"Nuh uh, over here! Hang on, Professor!" Kurt BAMFed to the Prof and held onto his wheelchair as he 'ported away.  
"Fools!" Mystique shouted.  
"Hey! I'm over here!" Kurt BAMFed to the edge of the woods, his hands free.  
The Brotherhood panted as they ran across the field, only Quicksilver kinda... just, ran.  
"Haha! Over here!" Kurt picked up the unconcious Rogue and 'ported out of sight as Quicksilver reached out for him.  
"Don't you idiots see what he's doing?!" Mystique cried out.  
"Hey Avalanche! Kitty said zat she'd rather date me zan you! Vhat are you going to do about ZAT, hmmm?"  
Avalanche stomped his foot. A pile of snow fell on top of Kurt, who had been conveniently standing underneath a tree.  
"THAT'S what I say about THAT, freak!"  
Just as he neared the snow pile, it collasped in on itself, as Kurt BAMFed to where Jean was, collected her in his arms, and 'ported away.  
"I work with nimrods." Mystique smacked her forehead.  
"Hey, what do you want us to do lady?" Quicksilver yelled. "Get him or not?"  
"Do whatever you have to do to stop him...." Quicksilver turned away, "EXCEPT kill him!"  
"I'm over HERE!" Kurt said in a singsong tone as he picked up Scott. "Oh, and I am NOT a freak!" he added before BAMFing outta there.  
"Vhy can't you guys catch me?" Kurt snatched Storm and... yup, BAMFed away.  
"Nope, nice try, I'm over here!" Kurt held onto Spyke's arms and... well, you guessed it.  
"Somebody catch him!" Mystique yelled at the masses running around in circles.  
"I don't need to walk around in circles!" Kurt sang to himself as he BAMFed to where Logan was.  
"Ahem... somebody's been a naughty boy." Kurt slowly looked up into the eyes of his mother. "I would have to say you need to go to your room for a time out."  
Kurt narrowed his eyes seriously. "I von't play zese games vith you, Mother. Not like vhat Colleen is doing vith Meos."  
With that, he grabbed Logan's arm and BAMFed out of sight, dragging him along, leaving his mother and her "nimrods" in the snow.  
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Rogue woke up to voices mixed together. She couldn't decipher who they belonged to, or what they said, and when she slowly opened her eyes, all she could see were blurs. She groaned.  
"Hey, she's awake."  
"Hey, Rogue..."  
Rogue blinked as the blurs became her friends, and the voices were theirs. She sat and looked up at Shadowcat.  
"Where the Hell are we?"  
"Ze Brotherhood's new Paradise. Sanctuary- Ze Sequel."  
"Kurt!" Shadowcat looked at him out of the corner of her eye.  
"Sorry, Katzchen."  
Rogue smiled. "Is everyone okay?"  
"Yeah, like, the worst casualty was Mr. Logan, who has a brutal headache. The rest just have, like, cuts and scrapes and, like, bruises..."  
"You mean, black and blues."  
"No... I mean, like, bruises!"  
"Black and blues!"  
"I hardly think it matters what you exactly call them, bub. If it hurts, it's not good," Wolverine said, annoyed.   
Rogue glanced around, their argument forgotten. "Do they know we're here?"  
"No." SHadowcat smiled. "Kurt, like, totally risked his life to, like, save us. He, like, teleported back and forth, and, like, transported us all here, one by one. It put such a total strain on him, for 'porting so far away, with so many passangers... He, like, totally faced the Brotherhood all alone. He so left them all in the courtyard. He was, like, so brave!"  
Nightcrawler blushed. "It vasn't zat big of a deal... I vas ze only one concious zat could do anyzing... no offense, Professor... Vell, I couldn't just stand zere and let zem kill us."  
"What were they doin' anyway?"  
Kurt looked at the Professor and sighed.  
"I think I'll explain, Kurt." The Prof quickly filled Rogue in on what had happened, as he knew it. Everyone was up by then, and they had all heard it, so they jst busied themselves with whatever. Nightcrawler added in missing... and overexaggerated... details.  
"Rogue, Prof says they might, like, have Katherine!" Shadowcat glanced at her teacher. "We have to save them!"  
"Well, yeah! I let Mara borrow my gold hoop earrings before school started. She never gave them back!"  
"Oh, Rogue!" Cyclops groaned.  
"I'm just kiddin'! I want them back safe and sound too." Rogue laughed. "Although, it's true, I ain't seen those earrings yet..."  
"Vell, now zat you're up and alright, can ve go rescue zem now?" Nightcrawler whined.  
"What are we wasting our time talking here for?" Wolverine extended his claws with a menacing glare.  
"You're right Wolverine. But first, we need to form a plan..."  
"What are we going to face in there?" Storm inquired.  
"At the worst, Colleen. From, like, what we've totally seen so far, she's brutal," Shadowcat said.  
"And French!" Nightcrawler added.  
"Yeah, that's right! We have absolutely no idea what she's sayin'!" Rogue looked at Jean and the Professor. "Any chance that one of you could translate for us?"  
Jean shook her head. "If I could, I could never get the message to you all in time."  
"And I'm afraid I'm not going with you."  
"But, like, Professor-"  
"I'd only hinder you, Shadowcat. All of you. I will stay here, hidden. When you win, you can come back for me."  
"As if we wouldn't!" Shadowcat exclaimed.  
"When we win? Or if?" Rogue asked.  
"Do you doubt yourself, Rogue?"  
"No! You taught us well, it's just that, Colleen sounds so... so..."  
"I trust in you, Rogue." The Prof smiled. "Now, rescue your friends."  
"Let's go, X-Men!" Wolverine said.  
"Ahem!" Rogue folded her arms and tapped her foot impatiently, glaring at Wolverine. Shadowcat pouted, placing her hands on her hips with a taught expression on her face. Storm and Jean just raised their eyebrows questioningly.  
Wolverine sighed. "And women. There, happy?"  
All the girls grinned.   
"Yes, actually," Rogue said.  
"Thanks!" said Kitty.  
"It's about time we had some representation..." Storm muttered to herself.  
"Anyway... let's go! Whoever we are..."  
The Professor smirked to himself as they all left.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
Meos watched in horror as her mother laughed evilly in front of her. She looked just the same, filled with an evil aura that was sure to make even the bravest bear huddle up in a ball of fear. She watched her place her on the wall, in shackles, next to her daughters, both unconcious. They never had a chance.  
"No!" Meos cried out, again and again, as if the words of protest were going to make the evil creature change her mind. Meos writhed about, trying to escape, to break free of the bonds that trapped her and her daughters to the wall. She couldn't operate her magic within the bounds and chains her mother had placed on her; that she had learned with pain and horror.   
She watched as her mother took out her whip and cracked it against the air, making Meos flinch.  
"No! Let them go! They didn't do anything to you, please! Let them go! I'll do anything, anything you want, but please, LET THEM GO!"  
Meos's mother grinned silently, as if words would never express the feeling of satisfaction, then brought down the whip upon her red haired daughter-  
"Hold it right there!" Scott shouted.   
Colleen missed and whirled about. Meos let herself sag in the bonds, a feeling of relief overtaking her. Help was here... just like before.   
Colleen laughed at the sight before her. A pathetic army, a pitiful crowd of superheroes. Superlosers was more like it. There was that man with the dorky sunglasses; and the man with metal claws- metal! Ha! The boy with "spikes" as he so called them- all pititful. And what was with that hair color? The creature with blue fur and a tail- Colleen bet he couldn't do much. Mystique's son; she'd have to be careful. The girl with her brown hair in a ponytail didn't look like she could do much either- she had been unconcious when she got there, wasn't that pathetic enough. The woman with red hair didn't look like much. Weakling. The black woman with white hair- probably unnatural, she was the same as the rest- pititful. The young girl with white streaks, she looked determined, but it was most likely a front- she would probably be the first to go.   
"Pitoyable..." Colleen muttered, just to prove her point. "Qu'est-ce que c'est?" she asked loudly.  
Meos raised her head. *X-Men... From now on, you will understand every word Colleen Meoskite says. She will understand you anyway.*  
With a jolt, they all suddenly heard Colleen talking... English?!  
"A senseless brigade. I suppose you're here to rescue your little friends," she said. "Well, sorry to burst your bubble. I am the most celebrated and powerful witch in all the world," Meos rolled her eyes, "so you'll have just a little trouble getting past me. I have my own things to do..." Colleen glanced back at her prisoners, "so don't waste my time. I need to become... more acquainted with my daughter and my grandaughters."   
She turned her head towards Meos. "And exactly WHO'S fault was it, Maia, that I had been killed savagely, deprived of my power AND my loving family, to be locked up inside an urn for eternity? Or at least until the cleaning ladies knocked the trunk it was in off the bookcase..." She lifted her daugher's chin with mock love. "Why, I do seem to recall, my 'dear'... it was YOURS!" Her face turned evil as she glared with hatred. "Is this how you treat your mother, girl?! Is this how you treat your own flesh and blood?! I taught you everything I could, child! This is how you repay me?!" She smirked. "Now, now everything will change." She twirled her whip around in the air. "You'll learn, once and for all-"  
"Let zem go!" Nightcrawler said bravely.  
Colleen laughed. "Oh yes, I will do exactly as you say. Oh, I'm quivering in my boots."  
"Look, we don't know who the Hell you are," Wolverine extended his claws, "or where the Hell you came from. But we'll go easy on ya if you give up. Maybe."  
"Come and try me, Wolfie."  
Wolverine growled and attacked, swinging his blades through the air. Colleen put up her shield effortlessly, and Wolverine fell back with a smack. Colleen laughed and looked at Meos.   
"Good help is so hard to find, these days... Maybe we could put an ad for new cleaning ladies in the newspaper together! Wouldn't that be fun, a mother-daughter project?" She laughed and turned to the group behind her. "Anyone else?"  
"Colleen, let them be! It's me you want!" Meos shouted. "Remember, let them go... ALL of them, and I'll do anything you ask-"  
"Give me your soul!" Colleen's eyes were wide as she turned and placed her face inches away from her daughter's.  
"Go ahead and take it." Meos stuck out her chest.  
Colleen smacked her. "Give it to me."  
"I can't! You've bound my hands! Only you can unbind me, or take my soul away!"  
"You know very well that I cannot take it from you... You must give it to me!" Colleen glared at Meos's face, now with a red handprint on her cheek, as well as tears. "Fine, idiot. Here. Here you go." Colleen released her from the chains and Meos fell to the floor and covered the back of her head with her hands, her knees tucked under her chest.   
"Now, take off the necklace and give it to me. Give it to me, Maia!" Colleen screamed.  
In the distance, Colleen heard a soft "BAMF." Suddenly, all attacks were taken place at once. Fire burned, metal slashed. Lightning struck and spikes speared through her. Colleen was frozen in place, and a chill ran through her, as if something had passed through her and rearranged her molecules. She felt herself feeling faint...  
Then, intense pain. Every essence of her magic was being taken from her. She couldn't live without her magic, and it was being drawn from her. Her magic was her life, it was in her, it WAS her! Her magic was all she was, all she lived for! It was the reason why she was living to this day! No, no! This wasn't possible! She couldn't turn around, she couldn't do anything. The most "wonderful" witch in the world... fell to the floor in a heap.  
Miracle and Amarantha groaned.   
"Mom?"   
Meos rose from the floor and looked at Miracle and Amarantha. She waved her hands, fighting the tears as the chains released them. The sisters fell to the floor.   
"Are you girls alright?" Meos enclosed her daughters in a tight hug, kissing them both on the forehead.  
"Yeah, Mom. We're okay... Hey Mir help us out."  
Miracle closed her eyes and, with a soft glow, slowly healed her family's cuts, scrapes, bruises, and any other physical damage.  
"Shhh..." Meos hugged her daughters closely once more. "Not another word. Go, go with your teammates. I will take care of-"  
"Wait! Katherine!" Shadowcat cried out.  
"Oh yes! Katherine!" Meos grinned, her eyes wide. "Here you go." She waved her arms around and muttered a few words to herself. They, of course, were in French. Mir and Mara looked at each other with awe as a tight-knit bag appeared before their mother. She opened her eyes and grabbed it before it fell.  
"Reaow!"  
"Oh, Katherine!" Shadowcat rushed over and released her pet from the prison she had been trapped in. "Oh, don't worry baby, I'm here, everything's alright. That mean nasty witch won't hurt you anymore... Oh my poor little girl!"  
"Now you know how I feel," Meos smiled warmly.   
Rogue gasped and turned to Mara. "You still have my earrings!"  
"Huh?" She looked at her friend, puzzled.  
"Remember the ones I gave you before school started?"  
"Oh, those? I gave them to Mir a while ago!"  
Rogue looked at Mir, expectantly, as well as Shadowcat and Mara.  
"What?"  
"Didn't you give those earrings to Rogue like I asked?"  
"..."  
"Miracle!"  
"Sorry! I forgot- I still have them, Rogue... somewhere...."  
Rogue groaned. "I'll neva get 'em back now!"  
"Hurry, girls..." Meos looked at the group with worry. "Let's go, before she wakes up."  
"You mean, she's not dead?"  
"No, she's not. If she was, my soul would have returned to my body instead of staying enclosed in this necklace." Meos gestured at the pendant dangling from her neck.  
"I say get rid of her right now!" Mir said, determined. "It's about time someone killed the ama, so we can finally go about our lives."  
"Miracle Meoskite! Never use that kind of language again! If you are ever going to speak the Latin language, use it with pride and dignity, not when cursing someone out! Or at least in my presence..."  
"Sorry Mom... Yes, ma'am."  
Meos, after a while, shook her head sadly. "You are too much like me... like her. Go, Miracle. Take your sister, take your friends. Get out of here."  
Miracle looked at her mother. "You're thinking of staying," she said quietly. This caught Amarantha's attention. "You're thinking of staying and killing her off, then destroying the place. And if something goes wrong, you'd be the only person to die. You're self-sacrificing, Mom. You're altruistic. You were going to stay behind."  
"I don't want anything else horrible to happen, Mira-"  
"We'll kill her together!" Mara cried out. "Three witches are better than one!"  
Mir looked around. "We all can pitch in. Mom, you said so yourself, anyone can be a witch, if they wanted to. Well, now, I bet everyone here wants to help out."  
"Now, girls-"  
"I agree with Mir," Rogue spoke up. "I have a little bit of Colleen's powers, remember? I could give a little bit to everyone, to make them more skilled."  
"It will work, I'm sure of it!" Mir assured.  
Meos sighed. "Miracle Meoskite, if something goes wrong, you all will regret it for the rest of your short lives..."  
"But it WILL work! You've got to trust us... and fast!" Mir glanced at the limp body on the floor.   
Meos sighed. "...Everyone has to listen to what I say, got it? I'm in charge. If I tell you to run, you run, understand?"  
"You're ze boss," Nightcrawler said.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
* "Pitoyable." "Pitiful."  
* "Qu'est-ce que c'est?" "What is this?" 


	7. Destruction, Decisions, and Gifts

Chpt 7- Destruction, Decisions, and Gifts  
  
"Okay, we need some salt, chalk, and a stake or spear of some sort... Why, thank you Evan! Oh, sorry-Spyke."  
Meos held the spear outstetched in hand as she telepathically lifted Colleen up and onto it. She floated the chains to her. She then bound her mother to the stake; in doing so, this could not only ensure that she wouldn't escape, it also represented that Meos was now in control; she could now operate her magic around Colleen.   
"That's done..." She said, mostly to herself. "Now we need the salt and chalk... Someone needs to take the salt out of my hands immediately as soon as it appears. No, Mira- this is not a job for a fellow witch."  
"I'll do it," Jean volunteered.  
"Thank you, Jean." Jean stood before her as she conjured the container of salt. It dropped into her hands as Meos backed away with a jolt.  
After a moment, she rose to her feet again. "Now..." she coughed awkardly. "Jean, pour the salt over Colleen. Yes, I meant what I said, I'm sure. Go ahead," Meos gestured as Jean telepathically sprinkled the salt over Colleen's limp head.  
"Now, the chalk." Meos conjured the chalk and drew a circle around Colleen's feet.  
"What is the purpose of all this?" Rogue asked.  
"The salt ensures that none of her essense escapes. Wouldn't want any chance of her escaping, no matter what form. The chalk ensures that none of her ashes blow away."  
"Ashes?!"  
"Yes. You'll see."  
Rogue paled for a moment, but soon recovered.  
Meos turned to Storm and Cyclops, who were watching with awe. "Cyclops, Storm, I need your assistance. Mira, 'Rantha, come here." She quickly told them what she needed them to do.  
"Alright... got it," Cyclops said.  
"Rogue, listen to my instructions carefully," Meos ordered. "Hold out your arms like this and close your eyes. Let the powers go, slowly and carefully. Not alot! Save some for yourself. Don't give any to me, Mira, or 'Rantha. We will provide our own source of magic."  
A dark blue light emitted from Rogue's hands.  
"Now, each one of you, reach out, and accept the power."  
One by one the light transferred from Rogue to the others. Shadowcat then gently placed Katherine back in the bag, made sure there was room enough to breathe, and slung it over her shoulder.  
"Don't want you getting lost," she muttered.  
"Everyone crowd around the circle."  
They all took their places nervously, and with care. Meos faced Colleen's front. Shadowcat stood to her right, and Mir stood on the other side of the cat of the shadows. Rogue was after that, with Spyke, Storm, and Wolverine continuing the circle, with Cyclops and Jean to Mara's left. Mara in turn stood next to Nightcrawler, who completed the circle, standing at Meos's left.   
"At the count of three, we all blast her with everything we've got. Focus and makesure you're hitting her correctly; don't miss! Just... imagine her gone. Not existing. Understand? Don't be afraid; trust in your power, and yourselves."  
They all nodded. Even Nightcrawler was serious.  
"At the count of three." Meos took a deep breath. "One, two" a pause, "... three!"  
The power was amazing! The blue light surged through their hands, crackling as it hit the unconcious witch bound to the pole before them with a jolt.  
The blue power went on for a while. No visable damage could be seen, as far as the group knew. Then, a change. Storm stopped the light from her hands and caused wind to rapidly flow around Colleen. Miracle halted the light coming from her and soon replaced it with jets of water. The crackling light burnt out from Meos's hands. She bit her lip with concentration as dark black beams escaped from her. The air crackled with energy and nothingness. Cyclops, running out of power, lowered his sunglasses quickly and aimed at Colleen, setting her afire. Amarantha's light frizzled away as dark brown dirt, and little bits of green grass, flew from her hands to Colleen.  
The others continued with their light, and soon Colleen was dry, soaking wet, half eaten by what seemed to be a black hole of some sort, aflame, and muddy. She stirred, and with a start her cold blue iceberg eyes opened wide. She looked around, taking the scene in.  
"No!" she cried out. "You can't do this to me! I swear, Maia, I will get you! You and my grandchildren! I will get you and yours... After all that I've done for you-" she left off, screaming. She struggled to free herself from the bonds.  
"No," Meos said calmly. It was in French, but the others could understand. She pushed the beams stronger into the circle. "No, the tables have turned. You cannot operate your magic in my presence; you will leave me and my family in peace. You are not my mother; I disown you. I finally banish you to your Eternal Hell; you will never torture, nor harm, another living being, as long as the name Meoskite is in blood!"  
With a scream, Colleen dissolved, along with the spike and chains. Everyone stopped their powers with relief, and Mir and Mara stared at their hands with wonder.   
The pile of white and dark ashes never left the circle, and the salt soaked up the black vapors trying to escape. Meos caught her breath.  
"I, Maia Meoskite, swear by my body, soul, and spirit. By the five elements of wind, water, void, fire, and earth, I sign my name in blood. May the Meoskite clan's magic reign forever without the torturing presence of Colleen Meoskite or any of her like again. Amen," she said in English.  
Meos conjured a needle and pricked her finger. She squeezed two drops onto the pile of ashes. She then passed the needle to Miracle. She took it, understanding.  
"I, Miracle Meoskite, swear by my body, soul, and spirit. By the five elements of wind, water, void, fire, and earth, I sign my name in blood," she said cautiously. "May the Meoskite clan's magic reign forever without the torturing presence of Colleen Meoskite or any of her like again. Amen."  
Miracle pricked her finger and forced two drops to fall on the ash pile. She then passed the needle to Amarantha. She took it with wide eyes. She looked at Meos, who nodded.  
"I, Amarantha Owen Meoskite," she said, choking on the tears, "swear by my body, soul, and spirit. By the five elements of wind, water, void, fire, and earth, I sign my name in blood. May the Meoskite clan's magic reign forever without the torturing presence of Colleen Meoskite or any of her like again. Amen." Mara pricked herself with a flinch and allowed two beads of blood to drop onto the ashes.  
The ashes disappeared.  
Meos closed her eyes as her necklace broke. The casement shattered, glass flying everywhere. A brilliant light radiated from a central point right above Meos's chest. Meos sighed happily as it entered her. For a moment the light spread through her, and she glowed with the soft pale light. She had her soul back. She was complete. She was whole.  
Meos let out a sigh of relief and opened her eyes as the light dulled to nothing viewable. "I'm whole again... We did it... we destroyed her. It's final, it worked! I'm free... we're free!" Meos laughed with tears threatening her cheeks. "Girls... I can finally be a real mother to you."  
The girls didn't say anything; it wasn't needed. They rushed over to their mother and buried themselves in each other, all three. The dam opened up and flooded and the threesome started to cry, letting every burden of pain and suffering empty from their souls, everything they had endured over the long years of separation. They cried over their hurt over the many things they had forgotten, the things they had remembered, the things they will never know. And they cried over things that shall be.  
"Uhh, I hate to interrupt the sentimental moment here..." Wolverine placed a strong hand on Meos's delicate shoulder, "but I think we should leave." He looked at the passageway which led to the Professor.   
Meos sniffed and smiled up at Wolverine, still holding her girls close. "You're right..." Then, to her daughers, "Come, girls. Let's go home."  
"Home..." Mara muttered. "'My people? Who are they?.... I went into the land where I was born, Where men spoke my language... I was a stranger there. 'My people,' my soul cried. 'Who are my people?' '" (AN: Sheesh, that was confusing... a person quoting a poem that has speech in it as well... oh well you make the most of it.)  
"'Last night in the rain I met an old man, Who spoke a langauge I did not speak...'" Mir placed a comforting hand on her sister's shoulder. "'With apologetic smile he offered me The shelter of his patched umbrella.'"  
"'I met his eyes... and then I knew...'" Meos finished the poem. She shrugged. "It's not the whole poem, but I suppose it's meaning will suffice for now. 'Rantha, when we get out of here, we all will have a little chat."  
"Yes, ma'am." Mara lowered her eyes as she followed everyone out.   
"How could you forget all you've taught us, Mara?" Mir whispered to her sister. Amarantha quickly followed her sister's glance to find that her eyes landed on Rogue and Shadowcat, with Katherine still in the bag slung over her shoulder.  
"Cyclops? Could you take care of the setting for us?" Meos asked, pulling him over to the side.  
Cyclops nodded, then put his visor on full power. He then started firing randomly. Soon the place was blazing with flames. Cyclops turned to go, seeing that the fire had enough fuel. Only Meos stood in the doorway, the fire softly illuminating her body, making her seem more mystical than usual.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
A few days later found it to be Christmas Eve. By then everyone had gotten over the shock and after-effects of the battle, although Kitty still won't let Katherine out of her sight, not even during meals, or training (not that anyone minded), and Rogue still hadn't gotten her earrings back- not that she remembered. They all were in good spirits, even Logan. It had started to lightly snow again, and the fresh snowflakes left a crisp blanket on the ground.  
The Prof had suggested a Secret Santa program for gift-buying, instead of everyone spending money on everyone and turning up broke. Somehow, they all had who they wanted. There were no contradictions or problems. It was quite easy, actually.  
Christmas Eve dinner was a feast. Kurt went through the usual process of exclaiming about the food and hanging from the chandelier- Logan swore it would break by lunch the next day- and the room was filled with sweet aromas and holiday music.   
"We still haven't made snow mutants," Mara grumbled to herself as she looked out the dining hall window at the lightly falling snow.   
Meos had left after she found that Mara and Mir were settled in. She hadn't even kept her promise of the "chat" that was supposed to take place when they had gotten "home." This left Mara in a fairly grumpy mood, despite the holiday spirit and cheer.   
"Oh, Mara, cheer up. She'll come back, don't worry. For now, let's enjoy Christmas- with snow, no less! We can make snow mutants tomorrow, you know that. After dinner we're exchanging presents! Remember?" Mir tried half heartedly to smile, but it was no use. She tried to act differently, but deep down, she was just as miserable as her sister.   
"I was looking foreward to a Christmas with Mom, not just snow."  
"Come on, Mara. This isn't fair. YOU'RE supposed to be the optomistic one, not me."  
"If she had planned on leaving, then why did she say what she did afterwards? '...I can finally be a real mother to you.'" This struck a thought in Mara's head; she paled. "Mir... what if she's in trouble?"  
"Oh, darlings, you should know by now, the Wonderous Maia Meoskite will never get into trouble again! For the evil queen has been destroyed, and the princess is free!" Meos laughed as she stood behind her daughters and lowered her hood. On her shoulders were Tobias and Minuit- Toodles had been given to Moonstone for the Christmas holidays, Meos knew her friend wouldn't mind... much. (She just didn't think a hyper chimp would be welcomed terrorizing the premises.) Behind her stood a smiling PL and Selene. Princess Luna and Kassandra Selenite.   
Mara gasped and turned around. Mir joined her as she hugged their mother tight.  
"You girls really didn't think I'd leave you again, did you?"  
"We didn't know what to think... Merry Christmas Mom!"  
"Yeah, we missed you so much! Merry Christmas Mom!"  
Mara looked up at Meos with a loving grin. "You have no idea how many times I've wanted to say that."  
"Girls, don't be rude and not say hello to your aunts," PL teased. Mir and Mara giggled and hugged their PL and Selene hello.   
"Meos! Glad you and your guests could join us. Please, have a seat, help yourself, and make yourself at home." The Prof smiled.  
"Home..." Meos whispered, then glanced at her two girls they made room for her in between them, with Selene across from Mir and PL across from Mara.   
"'Rantha..." Meos said as she sat, "How do you define home?"  
Mara looked around the room, at all her friends, smiling and talking and laughing.   
"Home is where the heart is," she said softly. *I remember, now...*  
Meos grinned. "And you, Mira... how do you define home?"  
"Home is where the heart is," Mir said boldly.  
"And where are your hearts, girls?"  
Mir and Mara glanced at each other, then around the room. Everyone they loved... all of their family was in that room. Where else could their hearts be?  
"Our hearts are here, Mom." Mara said.  
"Besides being located beneath the sternum bone in between your ribs, and above the lungs," Mir added.  
"Mir! I'm, like, trying to eat here! Please, no medical gore!" Kitty complained.  
"Sorry," Mir giggled. "Won't happen again."  
Meos smiled. "Is that what you're interested in? The medical field?"  
Mir nodded with enthusiasm.   
"What about you, 'Rantha?"  
"Oh, I dunno..." Mara said quietly. "I'm not like Mira; I don't like science and math. I actually like history and langauge arts." She looked surprised at herself, as if she was just realizing it then.  
"It seems as if you girls have your whole future planned," Meos said. Selene looked up and glared at Meos.  
Meos sighed as she noticed. "Don't worry, I'm getting to it..." she reassured her friend.  
"Huh? What are you talking about?" Mir asked.  
"Girls, I've been doing a lot of thinking lately, besides buying presents," Mir and Mara looked at each other, "and I've come to a conclusion."  
Meos took a deep breath. "I at first had been torn on teaching you more magic. If I didn't, you'd have no advantage when fighting. If I did, Colleen would be attracted to the new source of magic, and then realize that you were her grandchildren, and the nightmares would come true..." Meos shuddered at the thought of what that would mean. "Anyway, girls, now the danger has passed. You are now free to use your magic in ways you couldn't think could be real. You are not mutants- you are witches." Casually everyone stopped their conversations to listen in. Meos glanced around nervously and licked her chapped lips. "You also have magic talents, the result of being born in Xanth. That in itself is not a mutation. The reason why you can use your magic talents in Mundania is simply because the magic inside you, the same magic you use as a witch, supports your talents. Now, I'm not promising anything, nor letting anyone down with the question I'm about to ask you both. I'm not forcing you to do anything, and I'm not pressuring you either. Whatever your decision, I'll accept it. I'm just simply asking a question: Would you girls like to come with me and let me teach you magic?"  
Mara gasped and looked at Mir, who had paled.  
"I don't need an answer right away. If you do decide to, I'll let you finish the school year before you leave. If you don't, I'll still come to visit you. Now, I don't want this to turn into a civil war- the final decision has to be unaminous. I've already informed the Professor about this- through e-mail!- and he supports whatever choice you make. We trust that you'll have faith in whatever path you choose. We're sure you'll think it through carefully." Meos smiled at her daughters. "Now, I'm sure- Min!" Min jumped off her shoulder and leaped across the table to Kitty, who had Katherine sitting in her lap. "Katherine!" Kitty exclaimed as Katherine jumped up to meet with the new cat in the house.  
"Miaow?" Min asked.  
"Miaow?" asked Katherine.  
"Miaow!" The two cats cried out together. Then they jumped off of the table and went to the windowsill, where they sat and watched the snowflakes gently fall.  
"Minuit Chatte! We are guests-"  
"Katherine! Oh, Prof, I'm sorry-"  
The Prof chuckled. "Don't worry about it, Kitty, Meos. It's a one-time thing. They're always welcome- they're part of the family. Besides, they seem to be getting along quite well."  
"Well..." Meos paused. "We'll see."  
The sisters stared dumbfoundedly at their mother. PL winced, and Selene gave Meos a mental slap.  
All the conversations returned to normal after that. But Miracle and Amarantha couldn't get their mother's offer out of their heads...   
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
"Presents!" Kurt cried out. Everyone laughed.   
The group had moved to the main living room to rest awhile. There was a giant tree decorated with garland and lights and ornaments. There was an angel AND a star gracing the top, and the presents under it, so of course it wasn't long before someone suggested they desperately wanted to be opened.   
"Alright, Kurt. We'll open our presents." The Prof glanced at Meos, who smirked. "But first, I think our guest wants to say something."  
"Thank you, Professor." Meos turned to the group.  
"I bet no one has forgotten our little adventure the other day." Meos smiled. "I suppose it's nothing like your regular fights and battles." She took a deep breath. "Nothing can repay what you all have done for me and my family. I'm not sure if you understand, but you've done us a great service, and for that I am in your debt."  
"I say nothing can repay what you've done for me, but that doesn't mean I can't try! Therefore, in payment for your wonderful gift, I'm giving you all something special," she smiled.  
Meos closed her eyes and twirled around. The magic swirled about her, as well as her cloak, and as she stopped, nine black cloaks with hoods, just like hers, appeared in a neat pile before her.  
Meos smiled at everyone's reactions. "I believe I got all the sizes right..."  
They each examined their cloaks carefully. Jean's had an auburn trim. Scott's had a forest brown, and Logan's had black mixed with silver. Kurt had blue, and Storm had a crystalline white. Rogue had brown with white mixed in, Kitty had a dark brown with silver, and Evan had a bright yellow. All their names were embroidered with a special silver that sparkled, even without light.  
The Prof reached down and picked up the last in the pile. On the top left were the words Professor Charles Xavier. He smiled and lovingly folded the cloak with care. "Also, if you should ever need to wear them with your X-Men uniforms, just wish the names to change, and they'll change so that they fit." Meos smiled warmly. "I hope this'll do."  
"Meos... this is beyond any form of repayment..."  
"You've already deserved it, Charles." Then she turned to her daughters. "Here, girls... this is from us; me, Aunt PL, and Auntie Selene."  
"Meos..." Selene scowled mockingly. The others laughed.   
Meos smiled as she gave Mir and Mara two fairly big boxes. The girls had received two paperback box sets of The Magic of Xanth series. Topping it all off were bookends- a purple flower for Mara, and shooting stars for Mir. The girls were amazed as they read through the summaries for the books. It was all about Xanth!  
"Now, there's alot of sequels coming out, so I suggest you frequently check your mail- we'll send you the new ones!" PL smiled.  
Meos sighed, fighting the tears. "Well, if that's all, I'd better get going-"  
"Wait!"  
"Mom, you weren't going to leave without YOUR presents, were you?"  
Meos laughed. "Oh dear, I guess I forgot."  
Miracle and Amarantha rushed out of the room. Meos laughed as she heard the sound of footsteps getting softer and softer, then louder and louder as her daughters returned.  
"Merry Christmas, Mom!" The girls shouted together as they handed the wrapped box to their mother.  
"Oh, girls..." Meos choked as she unwrapped the paper slowly. She opened the box and gasped.  
"Oh..." Meos lifted out a silver charm bracelet, with three charms on it already. One was a small purple flower, and another was made up of several stars. The final one was a goddess sitting at the base of a tree, smiling at a butterfly perched on her finger, surrounded by flowers and tall grass.  
The girls then gave their Aunt PL and Selene their presents. PL laughed as she received a nylon/spandex black shirt with her initials on the front and her full name on the back in silver rhinestones. Selene got a cute jewelery box in the shape of a piano, and when it opened, it played Für Elise by Beethoven.   
"Oh, thank you girls!" Selene hugged her "nieces."  
"Now, I'll come back next week for your decision. Till then, my darlings, joyeux Noël!" Meos kissed them goodbye and expressed her thanks again to the others. Then, she, with Min and Toby on her shoulders, disappeared, as well as Selene and PL, without a trace.  
"Vow." Kurt blinked, amazed. "Okay, now ve can give our gifts! Here, Kitty..." Kurt handed her a small box. "Zis is for you."  
She took it warily. "This isn't gonna be, like, a dead rat with a clock in it's stomach, right?"  
A blank look. "I KNEW I vas forgetting something..."  
"Kurt Wanger!"  
Kurt laughed. "Just kidding, Katzchen."  
Kitty glared and opened her present. "Ohh!" Kitty exclaimed as she lifted out a purple collar with a bell and lisence, and a nametag that said "Katherine" and the Institute's phone number.  
"Oh, like, thank you Kurt!" Kitty wrapped her arms around his neck in a hug. "Now, if she, like, gets lost again, someone can find her and, like, return her! Thank you! Oh, this one's for you."  
She handed him a small box. He looked at her and grinned, then tore apart the wrapping paper.   
"Oh, vow..." He lifted up a gold chain link bracelet with his nameplate. "Thank you, Kitty..." He shyly kissed her on the cheek. Kitty blushed.   
Jean had given Scott black sunglasses with fire imprints on the lenses. They dangled from a metallic chain, so he could hang them from the review mirror of his car. He, in turn, had given her a necklace with a diamond pendant. Spyke had given his aunt a gemstone bracelet, while Storm had given him an authentic African tribal mask. ("It'll go great with the posters on my ceiling!") ("Gee, I wonder how they got there... *cough cough* POWERS!")   
Since Rogue gave Logan a new coyboy hat, he gave her new gloves. The leather material of the gloves was covered with rhinestones and sequins and crystals. Not that Rogue would be the next Michael Jackson (see... he gave her TWO gloves. ^_^)   
"Mir..."  
"Mara?"  
The sisters shoved their presents at each other. They looked at each other slyly, then unwrapped the boxes carefully and lifted the lid. Each of them held in their hand a gold chain necklace with a big heart locket. The front was purple with glitter scattered over the front, and Mara's had her first and middle name, and Mir had her full first name, both engraved in cursive. The back was solid yellow gold. The sisters looked at each other.   
"If you did, I swear-" Mir warned.  
"Open it!" Mara urged.  
The sisters shook their heads as they opened the hearts. Inside were pictures of everyone at the Institute combined with pictures of their mother, aunt, and "auntie." In the frames opposite of the pictures were the words "Home is where the Heart is," engraved in graceful cursive.   
Both jaws dropped.   
"Miracle!"  
"Amarantha!"  
"You found out, didn't you! Kitty told you, she must've!"  
"No! I didn't, Kitty didn't tell me anything! But I'm gonna kill Rogue, she must've slipped the word-"  
"I swear, I didn't know at all! Nobody told me or anything like that!"The girls looked at each other, mouths open wide. Then they started to laugh.  
"I guess we know each other too well!" Mara explained.  
"This perfect?"  
"Maybe it was something else..."  
"Yeah! Maybe we're developing powers like Jean, only like identical twins!" Mara squealed with delight.   
"You really mean it?" Mir asked.  
"Maybe. Who knows?"  
Suddenly, Logan clapped his hands for attention, as the two sisters put the necklaces on each other.  
The others continued talking.  
"Ahem!" he coughed.  
No one payed attention.  
"May I have everyone's attention please?" The Prof asked kindly.  
Everyone stopped.  
"Thank you," the Prof smiled. Logan looked at him with a suspicious look, then took the floor.  
"Err... thanks, Charles... Anyway, it looks like everyone has their presents."  
Nobody said a word. Logan cleared his throat.  
"AHEM! I said, 'It looks like, everyone has their presents!'" He stressed, glaring at Kurt.  
"Ohh!" Kurt exclaimed. He then BAMFed away. Logan rolled his eyes as he returned, gift box in hand, which he then handed to Logan. The others smiled.  
"... Here." Logan shoved the present into the Prof's hands. Rogue raised an eyebrow, while Kitty covered the wince that appeared on her face with her hands. Jean shook her head and looked at Storm, who sighed.  
"Well, he DID say he wasn't good at these things..." she muttered.  
"Professor..." Jean said. "You've done so much for us. When we realized that you hadn't put your name into the Secret Santa pile- Don't worry, we didn't say who we had!- we pooled our money together and bought you something from all of us. It is Christmas, after all, Professor!" Jean smiled, cutting off the Prof's protests.  
The Prof shook his head, giving up. He opened the present with a smirk on his face. The smirk then grew into a genuine smile as he realized what the present was.  
"Thank you, everyone." He said quietly. He held the picture frame with his hands and gazed at the picture lovingly. It was a collage of everyone at the Institute, including Katherine. ^_^ Some were posing, like Jean and Scott, while others, like Logan and Kurt (and, of course, Katherine) were candid shots.   
The Professor shook his head. "I'll treasure it always." Everyone smiled.  
"That reminds me..." he wheeled to a box on a nearby table. "I have all your presents right here..."  
"But, Professor-"  
"Trust me, they'll come in handy."  
The Professor opened the box to reveal small computer chips (hey, we're talking the size of pencil erasers here).  
"Prof? What's all this about?" Mir picked up a chip and examined it closely.  
"There are two for each of you. You place them on the inside of your ear, like so..." he demonstrated. "And you automatically hear English, no matter what language was originally spoken. And they won't hurt your ears- you can leave them in all the time, even if they get wet."  
"Vow!" Kurt exclaimed. "Does it vork for accents too?" he asked hopefully.  
The Prof laughed. "Sorry, no. English is English, no matter what accent."  
"Oh, Kurt, your accent isn't that bad! It's, like, cute, actually..." Kitty blushed.  
"Oh, I vasn't talking about MY accent... I vas talking about Rogue's!"  
WHACK!   
"Oww..."  
Rogue pursed her lips and looked at Kurt out of the corner of her eye. The others laughed.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
*joyeux noël*Merry Christmas (actually, joyeux = happy but this IS France here! No offense to les français... I'm one myself.) 


	8. The LAST chapter, I swear!

Chpt 8- The LAST chapter, I swear!  
  
"Kitty?"  
"Yeah, Rogue?"  
"Stand riiiiiiiight.... here!"  
"Huh?"  
Kitty stumbled backwards as her friend pushed her underneath the doorway, nearly tripping over Katherine in the process. She cried out as she bumped against something. Everyone was ready to get to bed... but no, not Rogue!   
"Ah!" Kurt cried out as Mara shoved him into something... he couldn't tell, he wasn't facing the doorway.  
"Like, Rogue!"  
"Mara!"  
Slowly, Kurt and Kitty turned around to face each other.  
"Kurt?"  
"Kitty?"  
Rogue smirked and looked up. Mara grinned and pointed upwards. Cautiously... and VERY slowly... Kurt and Kitty glanced up.  
Above their heads, pinned to the header (the top of the doorway) was a fresh sprig of mistletoe.  
Kurt and Kitty blushed.  
"You know the rules!" Rogue said in a singsong tone.  
"You have to kiss or you'll have bad romantic luck until next Christmas!"  
"And that would be terrible!"  
"Yeah- you guys probably wouldn't ever reach your first date!"  
Kitty glanced downwards. "Guys-"  
Kurt cut her off with a quick kiss on the lips. Rogue and Mara grinned.  
Kitty closed her eyes and lingered in front of Kurt's face. When she opened her eyes, he looked at her hopefully, his cute eyes big and wide.  
Kitty closed her eyes again and leaned in for another kiss, wrapping her arms around Kurt's neck. This time, he didn't pull away- he placed his hands on her waist.  
"Yes..." Mara exclaimed in an excited whisper. She and Rogue exchanged high fives as they quietly walked away, and Katherine purred excietdly around Kitty's ankles; her master didn't pay her any mind.  
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"Mir?"  
"Mara! What are-"  
"Shhh.... we have to talk."  
"Oh. I see."  
Mara crept quietly into her sibling's room and sat on her bed as Mir sat up.  
"What are we going to do?" she whispered. Everyone had finally gone to bed... except the two sisters.  
"We need to list the pros and cons of going... and then the pros and cons of staying."  
"Going: Pro number one. We live with Mom."  
"Well, isn't that obvious."  
"Pro number two: We learn magic."  
"That's obvious, too."  
"You could help, ya know!"  
Mir sighed. "Pro number three: We'd move back to Xanth."  
"Pro number four: We could still stay in touch with the people here through e-mail. Or whatever."  
"Pro number five: No more fighting."  
"No more fighting... mmmm....."  
"Come off, Mara! This isn't some food delicacy here!"  
"Sorry! Shhh... Don't wake Rogue!"  
"Any more pros?"  
".... I don't think so."  
"Okay: Con number one: No more snow."  
"That's a con?"  
"Is it?"  
"I dunno."  
"Let's just assume it is."  
"Anyway, con number two: We'd be exposed to the dangers of magic."  
"But wouldn't we-"  
"Shhhhh!"  
Mara shook her head, tears forming in her eyes. "Mir... this is so hard!"  
"Okay, let's leave the cons alone for now. Pros for staying number one: We'd see our friends everyday."  
"Pro number two: We'd develop our talents in the form of mutations."  
"Pro number three: We'd stay in New York, with the snow." Mir smiled.  
"Pro number four: We could keep in touch with Mom through e-mail."  
"Pro number five: We'd aid the X-Men whenever they got into trouble or something like that."  
"Yeah..."  
"Any more?"  
"I don't think so."  
"Grrr! This is so frustrating!"  
"Which one would you like to do, Mir? Stay or go?"  
"How can you ask that?"  
"Shhh!"  
"Well then, which one do YOU choose? Stay or go?"  
"I don't know! Mom said the decision had to unanimous and totally without regret. But that can't happen if we don't ever decide!"  
"Ya know what? Keep those pros and cons in mind... we don't have to decide tonight. She's coming later on next week- we'll decide before that. Same time, same place?"  
"Okay... Merry Christmas, Miracle."  
"Merry Christmas, Amarantha Owen."  
The two sisters smiled and hugged goodnight. Mara left (via the DOOR, people! That's what it's there for! Can't depend on Kitty and Kurt ALL the time!) as Mir settled back down and closed her eyes. It took a while for the thoughts to clear her head, but after that, she was out for the night.  
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Christmas Day came and went, and soon the Christmas trees were gone, and the decorations were replaced with New Years' streamers and balloons. Mara and Mir continued their discussion during the nights, alternating the rooms so their roommates wouldn't throw any various objects at their heads, trying to get some sleep.   
Finally, during one long nightly conversation, they had finally come to their conclusion. Just like their mother had said, it had been unanimous and without regret, and no one had forced anyone to do anything. It had been tough, but they managed it.   
That day, mostly everyone was inside, spare Mara and Mir. The never had made those snow mutants. They giggled as the packed snow fell off of one ear. Anything to get their minds off of the decision in the meantime.   
"Hello, girls!" Meos smiled as she appeared nearby, Min and Toby on her shoulder.   
"Mom!" The girls paused and faced their mother, half smiles on their faces.   
"My darlings," Meos said, and kissed both girls on the cheek. "What are you doing out here all alone?"  
"We're making 'snow mutants,'" Mara said proudly.   
"Speaking of mutants..." Meos looked at the huge estate. "Maybe we should go inside for now, to talk."  
"Alright." Mir looked at their pathetic snow mutant, sighed, fighting the urge to chop it's half formed head off, and followed her family inside.   
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"Now, girls... before you tell me your decision..." Meos took a sip of her hot chocolate and looked across the table at the Prof. "The Professor and I would like to say, we accept your conclusion without question."  
"We know..." Mir looked at Mara out of the corner of her eye and took a deep breath. "Should I explain, or..."  
"I think they'd understand it better if they heard it in your voice." Mara said quietly.  
"Obiekabie." Mir looked at her mother and her professor and took a deep breath. "Just hear us out. There is a point to what I'm about to say." She glanced back and forth from Meos to Charles. "We know you both love us very much... yes, you too Professor! And we love you both as well, more than you'll ever know. We have encountered many obstacles in deciding whom exactly we should stay with. Here, we could explore the ranges of our talents, as well as aid the X-Men. We wouldn't have to change schools in the midst of high school, and we wouldn't have to leave our friends. And- we'd see snow in the winter." Mir blushed. "Ehh... heh heh.. anyway. If we went with you, Mom, we'd learn all about witchcraft and our heritage, and we'd be with you. We wouldn't have to fight anymore. And we could always get an education with you. And, we'd see Xanth once more! ... I guess, we could learn to live without snow... again..." Mir glanced outside at the blanket of snowflakes that blessed the ground outside with a look of doubt on her face. "Plus, I might be living with Rogue WAY too long! I think I'm beginning to have a Southern accent. I mean, Logan yelled at me to hurry up to dinner, and I said that I was brushing my hair, only it came out, 'I'm brushin' mah hair!' in that way Rogue talks. I totally freaked, and silently whimpered to myself and nibbled on my thumbnail for the remainder of the night.... oh, sorry Professor." She laughed as the Prof's glare abated.   
"By the way-" Mara cut in. "I think I'm developing Kitty's habits as well. I sometimes find myself saying the words 'like,''so,' and 'totally' in the same sentence ALOT! If I ever say the word 'icksome' again, lock me up and throw away the key." She blushed as her mom and Charles glared at her. "Well, it's kinda true! I said it once to Evan and he got, like, so weirded out!" She blinked rapidly. "See?"   
Mir then shook her head. "Anyway, after much debate, we've finally reached a conclusion... our conclusion. In fact, both of us thought it up at the exact same time, that was kinda weird, ya know, we did the same thing with our Christmas presents-"  
"Miracle!"  
"Eeek! Sorry, Mom. Anyway, our decision is..."  
Mir glanced at her sister, who drew a deep breath.   
"... to have both of you." Mara finished her sister's sentence.  
Meos looked at her children with confusement, then at Charles skeptically. He raised an eyebrow.  
"What we mean is, we choose both sides. Or rather, no sides at all. We'd still attend Bayville High, and we'd still train with the Prof... every other day. The other days, we'd practive with Mom, and we... meaning, Amarantha, Mom and I would live nearby. Maybe in an apartment. That is..." Mara looked at her mother, "if you'll stay?" she asked hopefully.  
Meos cleared her throat. "I don't see why I couldn't move to New York. There's nothing keeping me tied down anywhere else, and we could visit Xanth, your aunt, and Selene during the holidays. I'm sure they wouldn't mind."  
"As as for an apartment..." the Prof smiled. "I think that could be easily arranged."  
Mara and Mir beamed. "You mean... you guys accept?"  
Meos shrugged. "We hold no objections."  
The following actions consisted of the two sisters jumping from their chairs, bouncing up and down excitedly, clapping their hands with amusement, and lots of hugging. Err... yeah.  
"They said yes!" they cried together. Meos and Charles watched, laughing to themselves.  
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And so, the sisters began their busy schedule the next day. Every other day they would join their mother in magic lessons and family history. Xanthian courses were given, and of course, French. Also, self-defense and martial arts classes- for when magic couldn't be used. And in the Institute, Professor Xavier trained them just as hard in their talents/mutations.   
Meos, Miracle, and Amarantha, as well as Tobias and Minuit, made themselves comfortable in that "apartment" the Prof had promised to "take care of..." Oh, please, the estate was pratically a mansion in itself! It had four floors, including an attic and basement, five bedrooms, 2 for guests, a huge kitchen, a dining hall, a living room, 2 rec rooms, 3 full baths, a porch, both front AND back yards, a four-car garage... It was a house! And according to most people in the world, apartments are not houses! But the family wasn't complaining- just surprised.   
Things somehow returned to "normal" at the Institute- Rogue moved to Kitty's room... (they couldn't stand being in a room to themselves), it was neater, and a lot bigger than what they had originally. Mir and Mara let them have the mini-diskettes that had all their mother's lullabies; they reassured them that they had the authentic thing, now. Katherine continued prancing about the mansion, and warmed up to Mir and Mara whenever they came to train. They all resumed classes after the holidays, and all in all, things were going great!   
Except, for....  
*Geez, this sucks,* Colleen thought, and she curled her hands into angry fists as the flames of Hell surrounded her.   
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End! 


End file.
